Arranged Funeral
by Tear Maker
Summary: Even after you've escaped, it's hard not to still feel like a prisoner of war. Especially when those you loved feel like they've lost you forever.
1. The Preparations Begin

AN: Mk, this is ma first story and I thought it should be a Yoruichi Soifon story since there's like only four pages of submissions and well let's just say Naruto gets a lot of attention. This is not gonna be a short lil' thing where they have sex and Soi won't be in the picture for a lil' bit, but bear with me. Oh and don't worry about Kisuke, I have a plan neh?

Disclaimer: Why do I even have one of these? It's obvious I don't own anything -cries-

Warning: I'm lazy so this could take a while

Rated: T for togas and raunchy language (sounds like a salad dressing), oh yeah and slight sexual themes

* * *

Chapter 1, The Preparations Begin 

Her dark finger skimmed lightly over the plastic page, a small grin growing on her face as the photograph was hit by the sunlight, and it met her eyes with a glare. They were so young then, it was almost funny that she never even questioned their fate; it was an acceptance of her family's wishes that made her go along with it. Only, she often wondered what would have happened if the girl hadn't gone…

"Yoruichi!"

"What, Kisuke?" She raised her voice from the living room.

"I need your help with my newest invention." She sighed and put the photo album down on the table in front of her and worked her way towards the basement.

"What is it?" Her hands glided along the railing as she continued her graceful descent down the stairs, just stopping shy of the last two steps, and leaning over the short fencing. He turned around grinning deviously and set his hand on the human-like object behind him covered with a dirty off-white fabric. When was the last time he washed that thing anyway?

"Ok you remember my self cleaning toilet?"

"You mean the one that you got your head stuck in?" He rubbed the back of his scalp and laughed behind his scruffy hair.

"Yeah well this one is four times better!"

"Oh really?" An elegant eye brow cocked itself as she started smiling.

"Come on, Yoruichi, have a little faith in me," he pouted.

"All right fine, let's see it."

"Ok, now this is one of my best creations yet."

"Well considering the last one, I suppose that's a safe bet."

"Hush, now I present to you, the worlds first, electronic blow up doll!" And he ripped the sheet off tossing it to the floor, which is probably why it got so dirty in the first place.

"Kisuke you pervert!" She flew down the stairs after him, and he sprinted to the other side of the metal table the doll was resting on.

"Yoruichi, just calm down a second, I need your help remember?"

"I'm not helping you out with that disgusting toy."

"But, Yoruichi I need someone to test it out for me!"

"What?" She yelled and ran to the opposite side of the table, but he managed to get around it as well.

"Well how am I supposed to try it? Of course I'm gonna like it, it is my invention after all. And we both know you aren't the straightest line in the coordinate plane." A blush crept across her cheeks as she pounced on him over the table and pinned him to the ground. "Yoruichi, hold on a sec… I didn't mean ta-"

"Well now, I thought the weddin' wasn't for another month, honeymoon start already?" Kukaku strolled leisurely down the rest of the steps and crossed her arms in front of the two still on the floor. Both of whom instantly jumped up and blushed furiously before averting their eyes around the room. "What'd he do this time, Yoruichi?"

"Just look for yourself, he's created an abomination." She pointed towards the doll on the table, and the black haired woman looked it over and eyed him curiously.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Well no… it's… yes?"

"You pervert," and she brought her fist down hard on his head leaving him to rub at it.

"Ow, what was that fer?"

"Yoruichi I dunno how you can go through with this, it must be killin' ya." The woman in question just chuckled.

"Well you know how it is, I've got no choice."

"Well now you say it like marrying me is such a bad thing!"

"Kisuke, you look like a bum."

"And ya smell like one too," Kukaku added.

"Well you would too if you worked down here all the time."

"Yeah, yeah, so anyway," Yoruichi turned her attention back to the Shiba woman, "Whatcha need Kukaku?"

"We need ta start making preparations for the wedding remember?" The purple haired woman groaned.

"My mom put you up to this didn't she?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point, we gotta get ya to a dress maker so ya can get sized."

"It's a month away! I don't wanna go now."

"Come on." Kukaku wrapped an arm around Yoruichi's neck and lead her up the stairs gesticulating about what it the gown should look like. Kisuke turned towards his neglected invention feeling the same and sighed.

"I didn't think it was such a bad idea," and instantly he picked it up, deflated it and shoved it in a box next to him which was labeled "Failed."

* * *

"Kukaku are we really gonna do this?" She turned to the girl next to her with a frown and looked back through the store window which displayed perfectly proportioned manikins wearing flowing ground length dresses with elaborate stitching and patterns etched into the front. 

"Yup."

"What happens if I run away?"

"When I find ya I'm gonna kick yer ass."

"So… I guess we should go inside," and she turned to her right, but before she could take off down the side walk, her friend grabbed the collar around her neck. "Damn, why am I even friend's with you?"

"I love ya too, now inside." And she pushed Yoruichi into the door which opened with the ring of a bell.

"Good afternoon ladies, how can I help you?" A tall man walked out from behind a counter with raised hands gesturing towards them. His black bob cut hair rushed back and forth when he moved. It was a nice contrast to his odd right eyebrow and matching eye which appeared to have two long pink and yellow… what the hell is that? Yoruichi stared at the weird things as he introduced himself. "My name is Yumichika Ayasegawa." Kukaku held out her left arm to shake hands with the guy.

"Yo, this is Yoruichi, and I'm Kukaku, she needs to try out a wedding dress whatcha got that's good?" She stated while gesturing towards the woman next to her which appeared to be in a trance.

"Uhm, yes well I have a fine selection, if you had anything in mind I might be able to help."

"You have a book we could look at?"

"Sure, here you are." And he handed her a thick book that threatened to fall apart at the seams with how many pages were in it. She grunted as she held it and the black spiky haired woman dragged Yoruichi to a nearby table and pushed her into a chair.

"Now listen up Yoruichi, you gotta look through this. Pick out something ya like and we can…" She now looked the dark skinned woman in the face and noticed tears streaming down her cheek. "Oh, Yoruichi…"


	2. Forgot You Existed

AN: Thanks to those of you who read my chapter! On a side note, now that I have an idea what's gonna happen I may have to change the rating to M for future violence and adult language. It's also gonna contain a lot more drama then I had originally planned, but I will throw in fluff when the time comes. I also might have forgotten to also mention this takes place in the present day U.S., which is extremely important to remember while reading. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: Why do I even have one of these? It's obvious I don't own anything –cries-

Currently Rated: T for turtles, Jr. High language, and health class lessons.

* * *

Chapter 2, Forgot You Existed

"Kukaku… I can't do this."

"It's ok; we don't have ta do this today. We can come back-"

"No… I can't marry Kisuke."

"What? Why not, ya two're best friends."

"That's just it, we're best friends. Everyday growing up I tried to convince myself I could do it, I could follow my parent's wishes and marry him, but I can't fool myself anymore; I don't love him that way Kukaku."

"I wish I could tell ya, ya have a choice, but as a family friend I have ta insist you go along with the arranged weddin'."

"And as my best friend?"

"As yer best friend, I would tell ya to follow yer heart and do what's best for ya." The purple haired woman wiped her eyes and smiled.

"I'm pretty weak aren't I?"

"You? Nah, I sure as hell couldn't a done all that up to this point. You're a strong girl, Yoruichi, and you ain't stupid neither. You'll find a way to make it work, I'm sure." The cell phone in Yoruichi's pocket started to vibrate, and she reached for it, checking the caller I.D., she flipped it open and faked her normal voice.

"Hey Kisuke, what's up?"

"_Yoruichi, I just got a call from the hospital."_

"What? What happened?"

"_You're never gonna believe this, but… it's Soi." _Was her heart even beating? Yoruichi couldn't tell. It felt as if someone was sitting on her chest. Years had passed since she heard that name. She'd convinced herself that Soi was a figment of her imagination, a companion she had created to keep herself from being lonely on her parent's estate growing up. Yet here she was in town… in the hospital… hurt.

"I'll meet you there." And she shut her phone, throwing it in her jean pocket and turned to Kukaku. "It's Soi, she's in the hospital."

* * *

"Maybe I shoulda driven." Plastered to the seat of Yoruichi's car, Kukaku regretted the decision to let her friend take the wheel. She was almost certain they were going 40 miles over the speed limit and that any second they would hear sirens going off telling them to pull over. Luckily no such sound was heard as they literally flew over the hospital speed bump to get to the emergency entrance. The car skid to a stop and amazingly ended up in a parking spot. The woman next to her thrust the door open and slammed it shut, running to get inside. "Maybe not." The spiky haired woman breathed deeply as she struggled to get the door open.

* * *

"Where is she?" Yoruichi's hands were now piercing the fabric on a tall blonde haired young man who looked scared out of his mind.

"Yoruichi, let 'im breathe." She released her grip on the man and he collapsed on the floor trying to catch his breath; then took a step backwards in shock.

"I'm sorry." Kukaku flew forward and helped him up, apologizing for her friend and shot the dark skinned woman a 'wtf?' look.

"Hey, look, do you know where we can find a patient, her name is Soifon." After regaining his breath he limped behind the reception desk and typed her name in the computer.

"Fourth floor, ICU, room 327." He stumbled through each word. Yoruichi took off down the hall with Kukaku chasing after her. "Hey wait, you need to get a visitors pass!"

The button to the elevator must have been broken by the time the doors opened and she stepped inside, but before the door closed, a white hand caught it and forced it back open, then pinned her to a wall on the lift. "Yoruichi stop. Ya need ta calm down, they won't let ya see her if ya keep acting like this ok?"

"Get off of me," she snapped. That same white hand came swiftly across her face and she held up her fingers to touch the burning sensation on her cheek.

"I'm sorry… but you need ta chill out."

"Kukaku, what if Soi doesn't… what if she can't… I…" Tears started to spill from her eyes, and the door to the elevator opened up, but Kukaku still held her.

"Look, we dunno know what's going on, dun assume the worst, and try ta stay composed when we get there. I know it's been year's since ya've seen her, but dun let'er think yer a raving lunatic when ya bust open the door and attack her. Now I'm gonna let go ok? Promise me ya won't freak out."

"I promise," the other girl whispered. They both walked off the elevator and towards the room Soi was staying. Yoruichi flung the door open and threw open the curtain to the nearest bed. "It's empty…" the curtain on the farthest wall suffered the same fate and she ran out of the room to tell Kukaku. "She's not here." A nearby nurse was walking down the hall looking at a clipboard when Yoruichi bombarded her with questions. Poor, poor nurse.

"Ms. I need you to calm down and tell me what you need."

"Where is Soifon?"

"She's getting an x-ray taken right now, please wait for her in her room. If you'd like I can put an extra chair in there."

"Do you know when she'll be done?"

"In a few minutes, please have a seat." Yoruichi grunted and turned to go back in the room where Kukaku was resting with her head back in a large chair. It's times like this when a nurse questions why she chose such a career in the first place. The exhausted girl went over and sat next to her friend and looked out the window of the room, fingers playing with the antenna of her phone.

"She'll be fine ya know. Soi's a tough girl, she always was growing up, you know that best."

"Kukaku… thanks for coming with me."

"I had a choice? The last thing I remember was bein' in a Bridal dress shop, the next thing I know I'm buckled into the passenger seat of yer car flying towards the hospital."

"Sorry," her friend chuckled.

"Yo!" Kisuke entered the room and readjusted his silly green hat. "Where are your visitors passes guys?"

"Well someone almost killed the receptionist and took off down the hall. We never got a chance to grab 'em."

"So that's why he was tremblin'. Well anyway, where's Soi?"

"She's getting x-rayed," Yoruichi butt in.

"I see, and how are you feeling?"

"She's not in a very good mood, if ya want me ta be honest." Footsteps could be heard outside down the hall and the purple haired woman shot up and stared. A young girl with jet black hair was being pushed in a wheel chair by a short dark haired young man in a happy mood. That wouldn't last of course. Before he knew what was happening, a strange woman was running down the hall after him and he turned the chair around and ran down the remaining hall.

"Please stop, don't kill me," he whined while the patient in the chair gritted her teeth and braced herself for impact, she was sure they would hit a wall quite soon.

"No wait, stop running, I want to talk with her." The young man didn't hear her and accidentally tripped, but the wheelchair continued to roll down the hall. Yoruichi sprinted past him and gripped onto the handles, slowing down the momentum where they stopped just a few inches away from a collision.

"Soi," the taller woman turned her attention to the person in the chair. Bandages were tangled around her arms and head, who knew where else they were hidden behind the thin hospital dress and blanket over her legs. "Soi are you alright? It's been so long since I've seen you, I didn't know what happened when you left." The pale white girl just looked back into the strange woman's face; a confused look adorned her features.

"Who are you?"

"It's Yoruichi, Yoruichi Shihouin."

"I'm sorry, have we met before?"

* * *

Oh, ho, ho. About now is when I'm gonna tell you how much I love cliff hangers. Yes that's right, -huggles cliffy- bad for you, fun for me, muahaha. Now I hoped you liked it, and yeah it's pretty slow, but this is all necessary for the plot, I promise! Don't hurt me -hides- 


	3. I Dream of Hell

AN: Ok, so now that we've met the main characters, it's time for the story to begin! This chapter was so hard to write, I wrote it like 5 times, it's just… the bad thing about writing a cliffy is that you have to explain what happened in detail the next chapter. This makes the writing a bit awkward because you're being introduced to a previous event, and it's hard not to make it look repetitive. By the way, _italics _in this chapter are Soi's dreams. Look I changed the rating!

Warning: This chapter contains graphic violence and may be upsetting to those who have friends or relatives in the Middle East. In no way am I attempting to mock or joke about the situation, but I feel it's important for this to make an appearance in the story.

Disclaimer: This isn't necessary anymore right?

Currently Rated: M for tragic violence, adult language, and maybe macadamia nuts

* * *

Chapter 3, I Dream of Hell

"Come on Soi I know it's been a long time, but how could you forget me? We were best friends."

"Uhm, excuse me…" The young male nurse cautiously addressed the two. "Do you mind if I take her to her room?"

"Oh, no sorry." Yoruichi followed them back, and noticed that Kisuke and Kukaku had left. Jerks, not even staying around to meet Soi.

"What is your relation to Soifon?"

"Hm? Oh me? Well… we're real old friends you could say, right Soi? Actually I taught her everything she knows."

The nurse motioned to pick the shorter girl up out of the chair, but she was too big for his small frame, so Yoruichi offered to help get her on the bed. "Do you know what happened to her, why she's here?" Both girls froze at the question, Soi in Yoruichi's arms, staring back at her.

"No, I have no idea."

"20 miles outside of Al Basrah, on their way to Al Kūt, a small party of American soldiers were ambushed by a group of insurgents. All were found dead except one, this person suffered from metal wounds, dehydration, and second degree burns. The only way she survived was when her head collided with the side of the tank and shortly afterwards, fell into a coma. When she was discovered, she was rushed to an emergency room where they treated all of her injuries except one. The impact of her skull caused long term memory loss, which we aren't even sure she'll recover from."

"That's terrible, but what about Soi?"

"Yoruichi, that person is Soi." The younger girl in her arms started shifting uncomfortably and the taller girl set her down on the bed, then gripped the plastic edges. The pressure she exerted on the railing was so hard her knuckles turned white.

"I never knew Soi had gone to the Middle East… Or that she was a soldier. How long ago did this happen?"

"About three months, she got to this hospital just a few weeks ago, but she's in great shape. After we get the results from the x-rays we just took, we can decide if she's ready to go home." Yoruichi released the poor bed and relaxed.

"If she's almost ready to go home why did you take x-rays?"

"Well the surgeries they did on the bone to help it grow back needed to be checked up on. If the bone has healed nicely then we can remove the bandages and she'll be fine."

"That's great, right, Soi? You can go home soon." The dark skinned woman turned to the bed and noticed Soi was asleep.

"Another thing, all of her family members died about ten years ago in a large house fire, she has no permanent address."

"Ten years ago? That's the last time I ever saw her… I thought she had moved. My parents never told me about the fire." Her hand unconsciously reached out and brushed away a strand of hair from the sleeping girls face. The nurse pulled a chair up next to the bed for Yoruichi to sit in and turned around to leave.

"Alright, I have to finish making my rounds; if you need anything else just ask for Hanataro, that's my name." He smiled and left. Sitting down, the woman rested her head on the bed and watched Soi's peaceful expression, and the way her chest moved when she breathed, how soft her lips… Wait a damn second. She shook her head and closed her eyes; after all it would only be for a few seconds.

_

* * *

"Hey Soi, what's the Iraqi motto?"_

"_Ugh, another joke, _Ō_maeda? Fine, what is it?"_

"_I came, I saw, Iran."_

"_Oh ha, ha. Your jokes are as exciting as your personality."_

"_And your sense of humor is about as short as you are."_

"_That's the funniest joke you've made all day, jackass."_

"_Well it was pretty-" Suddenly they heard explosions outside of the tank and the look out shouted down at them. "Insurgents, everywhere, they have rocket propelled grenades. What will we do Captain?" _

"_Get your ass back up there and tell me where they are, no way in hell are we going down without a fight, _Ō_maeda, get ready to fire." _

"_Captain, they're getting closer, there's no way-" A grenade hit the side of the tank and the force peeled back the metal spraying it inside the cabin. Another one hit the ground below the tank and it flipped over on its right side. Soi fell against the wall and the flashing lights on the dashboard grew blurry. She felt blood trickle down her ear, as her head felt like it was being torn open. _

"_Captain! Capt-"_

* * *

"Code Blue, she's going into cardiac arrest, someone call the doctor in here!" Hanataro was now running into the room and looked at Soi's heart monitor. Her pulse was rapidly increasing. The fast beeping sounds it made woke Yoruichi up and she panicked.

"What's going on?" More nurses rushed into the room and Hanataro started CPR on the young girl in bed.

"Someone get her out of here."

"What? No, Soi! Soi!"

_

* * *

Her hand rushed to her head, as if it would help relieve the pain, and Soi tried to stand up. The tank was on fire, so she looked for the rest of her comrades, but fell back down, unable to balance. She reached for a chair above her and tried to pull herself up, but it was hard, the pieces of metal in her skin dug deeper with each new motion. Screw the pain. Eventually her body went numb and at last she climbed out of the hole in the left side of the vehicle and sat on the top. Again, she lost her balance and slipped off the side landing on the sand with a thud. No longer feeling anything, she dragged herself away from the burning tank at a safe distance and leaned backwards on a dune. The death trap exploded and she blacked out. _

* * *

Suddenly Soi's heart stopped beating. "CPR isn't working, where is Unohana?" Hanataro was shouting.

"She's on her way."

"Get me the defibrillator." Another nurse pushed Yoruichi aside as she was dragged out and wheeled the machine into the room. "Set the charge to 200."

"Set."

Hanataro gelled up the paddles and set them to Soi's small frame, "Clear!" then pressed them down, and her body jumped upwards, but her heart did not start beating. "Set the charge to 300."

"Set."

"Clear!" All Yoruichi could do was watch. Watch as they pulled her farther away, watch as Soi's delicate body flew forward with each charge, watch as Hanataro set down the paddles and looked down at the floor, watch as the tears spilled out of her eyes and splashed against the smooth linoleum tiles.

* * *

Weeeee, I'm happy. The first time I wrote this you would not believe how boring it was. My god I felt like I was watching the news. I'm happy with it now though. Hm, another cliff hanger? On a holiday? Oh I'm evil. Laughs maniacally.

Happy Turkey Day!


	4. Only Prisons Have Visitation Rights

AN: Bleh, I want more people to write YoruSoi fanfics. There's not enough for gods sake! That's one of the main reasons I'm writing this. I hope in the future more people will become aware of this couple because personally, I think they're so cute. I'm gonna make this chapter as long as I can so I can finally get Soi out of the hospital and I can start making things interesting to say the least. Only I've got myself in a hole with the whole wedding thing. ARGH, the things I go through to keep readers entertained. :l ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Don't own the Bleach World. Get it? Got it? Good.

Chapter Rated: M for Mushrooms and Tapioca (pronounced Tap-E-O-Ka) pudding because I like to say it- tickles my tongue. And as usual adult language, maybe… well I'm going to say slight nudity because it might make you more in a rush to read :D. But don't get your hopes up lol.

* * *

Chapter 4, Only Prisons Have Visitation Rights 

"Hello, are you Yoruichi?" The girl sitting in the plastic blue chair looked up at the voice that echoed through the waiting room. Her hair was a mess, mascara ran down her cheeks and the features on her face were heavy, you could tell she was exhausted. "I'm Unohana. Here I brought you some coffee." The black haired woman handed her a soft paper cup with steam rising out of the top.

"Thank you," she accepted it and held it in both hands trying to absorb some of the warmth. Damn hospitals, why the hell are they so cold anyway? "Uhm, what's the news on Soi?"

Unohana took a seat next to her and just stared for a minute, trying to think of how to say what the other woman wanted to hear. "Fortunately, when I arrived Hanataro had gotten a small pulse out of Soi, since then we have managed to keep her under stable condition, but we aren't sure why she fell under cardiac arrest, it could be from all the stress she's been under lately. We're going to run a few tests to determine what it is, but I don't think it's too serious. We've also gotten the lab results back on her x-rays, and they look fine. She'll be out of here maybe by tomorrow, considering how her heart looks." Yoruichi sighed.

"It's all so much to take in. I grew up with this girl, and she disappeared. I finally hear from her again and it turns out she's in the hospital from an injury she obtained in another country, in a war none-the-less. Then she almost dies in my arms, already one of our hearts is broken, and I barely spent one day with her. Why is life so complicated?"

"Sometimes you get the bad news before the good. Soi's alive, don't keep thinking about what has happened- think about what will happen. And life, well I really don't know what to say. Everyday I see things like this happen, lives are destroyed, and sometimes they are repaired. I can't really explain why it happens to some people not others, but I feel as if these things make you stronger, make your relationship with someone stronger. Oh my, now I've lost my train of thought. I hope you understand what I mean though." A smile graced her lips and her eyes closed loosely.

"Yeah… thank you. Can I see her now?"

"I'm sorry, but she's being tested as we speak. I can come get you when she's finished though alright?"

"Sure." And the doctor stood up and left the room. The messy woman looked into her coffee, her reflection wavy and disfigured. "If you had any idea what you do to me Soifon, you probably wouldn't have come back."

* * *

"Gosh you're such a mess." Yoruichi studied herself in the mirror. The cold tap water felt good on her face as she washed off the effects of last night. Behind her a toilet in one of the stalls flushed, and she reached for a paper towel, curious to who was behind the door. "Hanataro? What are you doing in here?" 

"Uh," the boy simply looked confused out of his mind. Then a huge blush raced across his face. "I'm so sorry I must have gone into the wrong bathroom again!" He started to run out of the room but tripped and fell on his face. "Ow!" The taller woman chuckled.

"No it's ok; actually I have a favor to ask you." She said helping him up.

"Oh, ok sure, what do you need?"

"Well I need to go home and change, but Unohana is supposed to tell me when Soi finishes up with her results, you think you could give me a call when it's alright to come see her?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks, Hanataro." And she jogged out of the bathroom with a wave.

* * *

"I need to get organized." Yoruichi started sorting through her mass of keys to find the one that unlocked her house door. "Stupid keychain," the object of her frustration just clinked together as she threw it at the floor and decided to knock. 

"Hi, loose your keys again?"

"Shut up, Kisuke. It's your fault in the first place there's 40 different keys on my key ring." And she stepped inside, leaving him to pick them up. "Why can't I just carry around 4 like normal people?"

"Because you aren't a normal person?" He followed her into the living room where she took off her shoes and fell onto the couch. "How was the visit?"

"Why the hell did you and Kukaku leave?"

"Avoiding the subject? Well she said she had somewhere to go and so I just took her home, too much of a hassle to go back."

"You're so lazy." She got up and started walking upstairs. "I'm gonna take a shower, you need anything?"

"No, but someone's waiting for you in the kitchen."

"What? I'm not expecting anyone."

"Neither was I, but she says it's important."

"Ugh."

* * *

The house was unusually hot. Not like a nice sunny day hot, like the pits of damnation hot. Walking through the house to get to the kitchen made Yoruichi uneasy, sweat trickled down her neck, and she gently pushed the swinging door open. 

"Why hello, Yoruichi." Oh god.

"Hello… mother." That last word dripped with venom.

"So nice to see you, dear! Come, sit down. Tell me what's new." The older woman patted a chair next to her, but her daughter just stood across the room with her arms crossed.

"Are you going to keep putting on charades? Because I have things to do, just skip to the point, why are you here?"

"Well, I know I taught you better than that dear, your manners are atrocious, always have been. Must have learned them from that little brat you always spent time with. The stray one, what was her name?"

"She was not a brat, or a stray. Why are you here?"

"Oh yes, Soi was it? I do believe that was her-"

"Mother, if you aren't going to tell me why you choose today to drop by my house, I'm going to ask that you leave." The woman in the chair just sat there staring.

"Well, I just came by to ask you if you had picked out a lovely dress for the wedding."

"Why are you really here? You didn't drive 4 hours just to ask if I had found a dress or not."

"Alright, fine. I heard Soifon was in town. I have come to request that you not see her anymore. You're too good for her, Yoruichi. She's just a worthless street urchin, you're from nobility."

"Get out of my house; it's not enough I'm going through with this stupid wedding for you? Now you have to deny me access to my friends too? What's next? Are you going to deny me ability to leave the house?"

"If it comes to it I might. She's no good for your reputation."

"My reputation? Mother this isn't Japan, this is America, we have no reputation, no one here gives a shit about if you're nobility or not, and frankly neither do I. I'm going to continue to see Soi; in fact, when she gets out of the hospital she's coming here to live with me. And I dare you to try and stop me." The swinging door almost fell off the hinges with the force it was hit with as the younger woman stormed out of the room and up the stairs to her bathroom. She needed to freshen up if she was going back to the hospital.

* * *

Steam literally poured out of the small tiled room when a young woman stepped out in nothing more than a pink bath towel, which contrasted nicely with her skin I might add. After getting ready, she headed down to find Kisuke, who was sleeping on the couch. "She gone?" He snored even louder than previously, but after a few swift punches to the head, she fixed that. 

"Ow, damn, Yoruichi. Why can't you wake me up like a normal person?"

"Because I'm not normal remember?" He chuckled despite the large lump he felt rising on his head. "Did the spawn of Satan leave?"

"If you mean your mother, yes, she left right after you went up."

"Good, did anyone call?"

"Mm, yeah the hospital called, they said- Oi, where'd you go?"

"Stupid keys." Luckily the car key stood out, she didn't have time to search through all of them, and drove quickly to the hospital.

* * *

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am." Yoruichi turned around to see who was calling her. Oh, him. "You need to check in; I can't let you through without a visitors pass." 

"I was just here an hour ago." She walked closer to the front desk and he was visibly quivering at this point.

"Y-yes, b-but you see…"

"Ugh, fine hurry up and take the picture." His hand trembled so badly the whole desk shook and her picture came out blurry. "Thanks." She pasted it on her shirt and rushed down the hall. "Elevator out of order?"

"That's because you broke it the first day you got here, Yoruichi."

"Oh hey, Hanataro!" She noticed the large pile of bed sheets he was struggling under. "Need some help there?"

"Oh, no… I'm-" She grabbed his collar before he tumbled over and took half of the pile. "Thanks." He smiled sheepishly. "There's another elevator right around the corner. You came to pick her up right?"

"Who?"

"Didn't you hear? Soi's ready to go home today, the results came back fine, her bones have healed nicely, and the heart problem was due to all the stress she's been under, she just needs to relax for a few days." If that pile of sheets weren't in her arms, nothing would stop her from tackling the boy in a huge bear hug. Hanataro should consider himself lucky for once.

* * *

The elevator opened after what felt like years and Yoruichi sprinted down the hall. "Hey where are you going?" Hanataro shouted after her. Some patients in their beds only saw a large number of sheets flying past their room, and concluded they were glad to be in the hospital at that moment. The door to Soi's room was practically kicked in and the tall woman threw the sheets down on the opposite bed and turned around to greet the girl. Only, don't rooms usually have patients in them?

* * *

Well I don't know what to say. A lot happened, which is not like me at all, plus the cliffy wasn't even that great. Sleep, that must be it, I didn't get my usual 14 hours and I must be deprived. 

Enjoy for now, Adios! -Jumps into bed-


	5. It's All Just A Memory

AN: Bleh those new word safety things are a pain in the ass. I got this one that said like idk looked like fellowship and total. GEEEEZ, I couldn't even see it. I miss the numbers. Anyway, you guys can thank Edge-Keen Blade for this chapter; I wasn't even considering writing it for a while, she inspired me to get off my butt. ANYWAY another chapter, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Blah --

Rated: M for Major nosebleeds and Soi's nakedness. God I love Kubo Tite for giving me these wonderful characters to manipulate.

* * *

Chapter 5, It's All Just A Memory

"Soi?" Yoruichi ran out of the room, tackling Hanataro to the ground and proceeded to shake the living daylights out of him. "Where… Soifon… room… empty!" He could have sworn he heard a slight rattling in his head; wouldn't anyone save the poor boy?

"Why hello, Yoruichi." Both persons on the floor looked up, and the dizzy one passed out. What was it the brain needed? Oh yeah, oxygen, oh well, that's not so important right Hanataro? Oh…

"Unohana, uh, hi." The taller woman stood up, helping the incapacitated lump to its feet then proceeding to slap him lightly on the face. "Sorry, Hanataro."

"What are you doing on this floor? I thought you were going to take Soifon home?"

"That's what I'm a bit confused about, see she's not in her room and-"

"No she's down on the second floor, this floor is for ICU patients only, and we felt it best to move her to a more general area."

"Oh. Hanataro, why did you take me up here then?"

"I tried… to tell you when we got off the elevator… I just needed to get the rest of… the sheets up here." It was quite annoying the way he talked, but I suppose it's not his fault he's out of breath.

"Yoruichi, follow me, I'll take you to her room."

"Thank you. By the way, I left the sheets in Soi's old room, sorry bout that." The two women then proceeded to walk down the hall.

"Usually I have contacts fill out forums before a patient leaves, but I can handle them for you if you'd like, I know how emotional this time must have been. Oh before I forget, here, I was just about to take these to Soi's room. They're a set of clothes for when you take her home, her uniform was so badly damaged we had to provide her with new ones."

"You're very kind." Her dark hand outstretched grabbing the outfit, and she tucked it gently under her arm.

"Oh it's no problem really."

* * *

The machine came to a stop on the correct floor and the two women filed out down another long hallway. They stopped just short of the last room and Unohana rapped softly on a shut door. "Soi we're coming in." The room looked the same, curtains drawn open with sunlight pouring through the clear window and resting at the foot of the bed. The figure under the covers turned their attention towards them, eye's catching the rays of the sun and shinned a bright silver color. "Yoruichi, I need you to sign this."

"What is it?"

"It's a waver saying you have taken Soi from the hospital under permission of a doctor." The pen shook as the purple haired woman scribbled out her name in cursive. "Thank you." A beeper attached to Unohana's waist went off and she snapped it off the elastic band. "I have to go; I trust you can help Soi dress." With that the woman rushed down the hall and back into the elevator. Seemed important, I've never seen her jog before.

"Help her… get dressed." A small whisper of words fell out of an open mouth, and a large lump caught itself in her slender chocolate colored throat. Turning back to Soi, she smiled. "Uh. Hi, Soi. I have some clothes here for you; you need help putting them on?" The younger girl stared and her friend walked over and rested the clothes on the bed. Carefully tearing back the sheets, she turned her attention to the bows that held Soi's gown on. Damn them for being tied so well, the long slender finger's working at them trembled, and at last the gown was free.

If it were any more possible for Yoruichi to turn another shade of red, one might think the color was painted on. The blue fabric fell forward on the smaller girl's lap as Yoruichi reached for the small black tank resting on top of the pile. Of course she would never mention how perfect Soi's beautiful body was, or how well the creamy white color contrasted with her dark hair, or how upset she was when she discovered the bandages rapped around the girl's torso, of course not. These thoughts were just thrown very rudely to the back of her mind. She did however, see the deep scars that lined her abs and left arm, the bruises that reached around her back and ribs, and without thinking, she traced a very long scar extending from her left hip through her belly button and ending at her right rib. The younger girl flinched at the cold finger.

"Sorry." Their eyes met, and if it were possible Yoruichi would say Soi's eyes drowned her in emotions, and she broke contact reaching for the black skinny jeans at the foot of the bed. "Can you stand?" A nod in response and Soi stood up with her back to the door and Yoruichi got to her knees to help her feet through the legs, the shorter girl resting her hand on the kneeling woman's shoulder for balance.

"Yoruichi I- Ah! I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I'll just go…" A small hand flew to its owner's eyes, and they backed up, stopping with a thud and a very sore back. Stupid wall. Well you can't blame him for being surprised, after all, it was a very provocative position if you think about it, and the fact that Yoruichi was on the floor in front of Soi, whose pants were half off. Yes, she is wearing undergarments, pervert. Well… darn a person wonder's why Hanataro gets so lucky sometimes.

"Hanataro wait. I was just helping Soi get dressed." With that Yoruichi pulled up Soi's pants and buttoned them, turning her attention to the boy.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I thought… uhm… Unohana told me to come in here and give you these." He handed her a few rolls of bandages. "She said to change them every morning and right before Soi goes to sleep until the wounds are completely healed."

"Thank you."

"Well I guess that's everything then. Have fun guys… I mean… bye." And he rushed out of the room with beat red cheeks.

Yoruichi blinked and looked back at Soi. "Can you believe he actually thought we were…"

"Thank you for helping me dress, but I could have done it myself. After all I have amnesia I'm not paralyzed."

"Then why didn't you say something sooner…?"

"It's cute when you blush." Now wait a minute did Soi just trick her? And did she just call her cute? Yoruichi isn't the only one who noticed how sexy that just was. "You ready to leave?" She looked awfully silly with her mouth hanging open like it was, but nothing would come out of her mouth. Stupid girls, why did they have to act all hot like that? Especially her Soifon! Oh, sorry, especially her **friend**, Soifon. Already one could say the next few days would be interesting.

* * *

"We're home!"

"Who are you talking to?"

"Oh that's right, you never saw Kisuke. Kisuke! Get up here Soi's home." The basement walls echoed her voice through Urahara's ear canal, which was quite painful I might add.

"Ow damn it, Yoruichi, I'm coming!"

"What's he doing down there?"

"He's a scientist, comes up with all kinds of crappy…" Kisuke stood there with his arms crossed, and his foot taping. "Oh come on your last invention was a blow up doll for the love of..."

"Oh there she is! Soifon how good it is to see you!" He walked over and hugged the girl. "You haven't changed much since I last saw you; you're still just as short as ever!"

"How dare you." She looked at him as if he had just slapped her. Theoretically, he probably did.

"Uh… Kisuke, can I talk to you for a second." She grabbed him by the ear and pulled him a bit away from Soi. "She doesn't remember anything… she has amnesia."

"Eh? You think you could have told me that before I went and insulted her!"

"Well how was I supposed to know you'd do that?" He gave her a skeptic look, I don't blame him, come on, it's Urahara. "Fine, fine, I'm sorry, just explain, she'll understand, don't forget to apologize." He scowled and turned back to Soi who was examining a landscape painting on the wall nearest to her.

"Uh, Soi I'm sorry, I was only kidding around, I wasn't aware that you lost your memory. I hope we can put this behind us."

"Pervert."

"Ha-ha, only 5 minutes and already she's got you pegged, Kisuke!"

"What relation do you have with Yoruichi? You two obviously live together."

"She's ma fiancé."

"I'm sorry, your what?" She turned to the girl in question. "You actually agreed to marry this buffoon?"

"Hey!"

"No actually I didn't, we've been engaged since I was 2 years old. It was an arranged marriage on our parent's part, and to be honest I'm just about as happy with the situation as you are. It's more of a death wish then anything."

"Hello? I'm standing right here."

"But this is America. No one has arranged marriages here, just refuse."

"I can't… my mother is a very influential woman, my parents moved here from Japan right before my birth, and my father was a King. If I refused to go through with it, not only would I be disowned, but I would also be assassinated."

"Ok it feels as if I've just walked into a James Bond movie, what the hell is going on?"

"It does sound a little far fetched… never mind, let me just show you to your room."

* * *

"Sorry for the mess, we mainly use this room for storage, and I never got a chance to clean up for you." Yoruichi rested her hands on her hips and looked around at all the boxes covered in dust. "Maybe it would be best if you just slept in my room for tonight. I'll use the couch. Soi walked to the other side of the room, a long black rectangle catching her eye. Gently pulling it out from under a large brown box she examined it and rested it on the bed, pulling up the clasps. This caught the taller woman's eye, and she stared. Slim fingers plucked different strings of the guitar and Soi tuned it, finally playing a song Yoruichi hadn't heard for years. "You remember?" Soi snapped out of her trance, a large headache finding itself in her scalp.

"This song… I don't know why, I just started playing it."

"That's the first song I ever played for you, Soi, back when we were little." An awkward silence filled the room. "How much exactly do you remember, Soi?"

"I don't remember anything, except at night, I have the same dream, where I'm in a desert, a tank, and there are two people with me. Then we heard a loud sound and…" She grabbed her head with both hands dropping the guitar, which made a loud strumming sound. "Omaeda! Damn it, get out of there!" A pause, "It's going to explo-" She dropped to her knees. "No! No, Omaeda! I'm sorry, I can't save you, I'm scared, I'm not strong enough, don't leave me." She started crying and Yoruichi ran over, dropping to ground, pulling Soi into her lap, and wrapping her arms around Soi's.

"Soi, it's me, Soi calm down."

"Yoruichi, save him, save Omaeda! He can't die, Yoruichi. I have to save him."

"Soi he's gone, he's gone, Soi."

"No, he's not, he can't." She buried her face into Yoruichi's neck and the hot tears tickled the tender flesh as they rolled down the woman's frame. "Yoruichi, don't leave me, I'm scared.

"Shh, it's ok, I'm here Soi, and I'll always be here for you."

* * *

Me: Dangggg, not a cliff hanger, you happy? On a side note, this chapter turned out good, it's not as boring as I thought it would be, and I got to play with the flirting a lil. SWOOOOT Soi has entered the building. From now on I'm going to have to keep Yoruichi on a leash. 


	6. It’s Not a Date, Honest

AN: I went shopping for a leash today, but when I got home Yoruichi set it on fire. Apparently rhinestones aren't her thing. And Christmas is coming, I'm sooo excited to go to New York during winter break, and I got my touch Ipod Friday. I swear to god I don't know how I ever lived without it. Anyway, commence the chapter! Some one care to get me a new leash?

SN (Story Notice): In case you're confused, most of the regular speech not in quotes is either by me or the character. It doesn't really matter which you think is saying it, I just though I should clear it up. Flashbacks/memories are in _italics. _Now pay close attention when the italics show up because it's a separate story other than the one we're focusing on. It takes place back when Yoruichi and Soi were young friends. Just go with it, if you get confused just ask I'll be happy to help.

Disclaimer: After this point on there will no long be a disclaimer. I think we all know who owns bleach… for now :)

Rated: M for language, of course, sexual themes, of course, and the relation of utensils to sex ha-ha, oh I'm gewd.

* * *

Chapter… what is this, 6? Chapter 6: It's Not a Date, Honest 

So this is what it feels like, Soi's warm body pressed tightly against my chest. The smell of her soft black hair tickling my lips… wait what? Yoruichi's eyes snapped open and she took in the scene before her. Spooning Soi now is she? "What the hell?" she whispered. The body under her began to shift and the taller girl froze. Please don't let her wake up; please don't let her wake up. Silence, thank god. After a few minutes Yoruichi removed her limbs from the tangled mess on the bed and rolled over to get out.

"Yoruichi!" Shit… The dark skinned woman tumbled off the bed landing with a hard thump. "Oh sorry miss, I didn't mean ta wake ya up. I'll just be goin'. Hey wait a sec, what're ya doin' in Yoruichi's room? And where's Yoruichi?" Soi sat up rubbing her eyes, as Yoruichi tried to fit as much of her body as possible under the bed. The woman still sitting felt a strange bump push the mattress upwards and looked over the edge at the floor and noticed two dark legs sticking out. Meanwhile Kukaku watched the girl's strange behavior and lay down next to the bed and peered under. "Why hullo there Yoruichi, ya drop somethin'?"

"Hey… Kukaku, what are you doing here?"

"Well I should be askin' tha same thing." Oh that grin… Pliers anyone?

"Uh… well… look, just help me out please?"

"First ya gotta tell meh why you're under tha bed, and why this girl's on it."

"To be honest I don't know. Until you barged in, I was sleeping." The white face disappeared from view and a strong grip grabbed onto the woman's ankles as she was pulled out from under the death trap. "Thanks, now let's clear this up. First of all, that's Soifon. Second, she has amnesia and doesn't know who you are. And third… what the hell's going on?"

"Yoruichi, don't ya got no self control? The girl has amnesia and you convinced her ta sleep with ya?"

"Wait what? I didn't convince her of anything, I'm just as confused as you are!"

"Let's see how confused you are after I kick yer ass."

"Soi, help."

"Kukaku is it? Yoruichi didn't convince me to do anything. She passed out last night from exhaustion and I took her in here and just fell asleep."

"See? Now that she mentions it, we're still in our clothes you dumb ass."

"Soi! It's so good ta see ya again!" The spiky haired woman rushed forward and bear hugged the smaller woman, who apparently didn't enjoy it all that much. "How ya been? Can I get ya anything?"

"Air…" She choked out.

"Oh, sorry bout that, I'm a childhood friend of tha both of ya. And by the way, I knew ya were too strong willed. If Yoruichi ever tried to rape ya she'd get a black eye easy."

"Now wait just a second, I would never try to rape Soi."

"Yoruichi you'd rape anything that moves, especially someone you have a crush-" Thank goodness for Yoruichi's speed, or else Kukaku would have leaked that one for sure.

"Shut up!" Kukaku bit down onto Yoruichi's hand and the girl yelped.

"Well if you two are going to continue to talk about Yoruichi's crush on me, I'm going downstairs to make some breakfast." She rose off the silky sheets and into the door frame where she paused with her back towards the two women. "And if you ever spoon me again I'll shove a bar of soap down your throat." Then she left the room.

"Ha-ha! Yoruichi she got ya good."

"Just shut the hell up already. What did you need anyway? I didn't invite you over."

"Aww yer best friend can't just pop by and say hi?"

"You need money again?"

"No. I came by 'cause today we're gonna pick out tha wedding decorations."

"Oh god Kukaku not again, you remember the last time we went out to plan for the wedding? I don't want to go, besides, I was gonna take Soi out today."

"Take her out? Yer not gonna molest her are ya?"

"What is with you and thinking I'm gonna rape her?"

"Yer joking right? Yoruichi we both know Soi's turned into an attractive young woman, an' tell me. When was tha last time ya had sex?"

"I don't see how that makes a-"

"It does make a difference! I'm just sayin' you might not be able to control yerself. And with the wedding coming up the last thing we need is another problem."

"I have enough self control, I don't go sleeping around like you."

"Ha, least I'm not asexual." And there's the awkward silence we all love.

"My mom came by yesterday."

"She what? Was Soi here? Dun tell me ya mentioned her."

"She knew before I even got home. She was waiting."

"What happened?"

"Same thing that always happens when my mom gets home. She pissed me off Kukaku; I told her to get the fuck out and went upstairs."

"This ain't good, Yoruichi. We both know how much yer mom hates Soi. What are ya gonna do?"

"I don't know, but if she goes anywhere near her… I'll kill her. Just don't mention my mom to Soi, that's the last thing she needs right now. She just got back from serving in Iraq. Her heads all fucked up, I can't even imagine what she must have gone through, or even seen, it's amazing she's even alive."

"I won't, ya know me. Anyway, I got ta get goin'."

"You mean you aren't going to force me into picking out napkin colors?"

"Ya want me ta?"

"Heh, no."

"Then I'll drop by lata, have fun on yer lil' date."

"It's not a date."

* * *

"Bye Soi, I'll see ya round then!" 

"Good-bye."

"Uh hey, Soi?"

"Yeah, Yoruichi?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make breakfast, but there's no food in your refrigerator. What do you eat, or are you anorexic?"

"Huh? Oh, usually me and Kisuke get home late, so we never have time to eat. We just order take out."

"The life of a princess isn't as glamorous as I once thought."

"I don't like to be called a princess and I don't plan on being one either. Plus I can't supply my family with kids, it's one of the reasons my mom doesn't talk to me much."

"Why, what happened."

"Well I guess you already know, Soi… I'm gay."

"Ow!"

"Hey, you ok? Let me get you some ice." The pale skin on Soi's finger turned red from contact with the frying pan. Opening the freezer, Yoruichi stuffed a plastic bag with ice and placed it gently on the irritation.

"It's just a small burn, don't worry." She looked up at the taller woman's face, it full of concern.

"I didn't mean to surprise you… I thought you knew."

"Actually I thought Kukaku was joking with you. I didn't think she was telling the truth."

"Are you ok with it?"

"Yeah- I mean it's not like- cause really- I think that… it's fine."

"Good. And since your breakfast is no longer edible, how about we go out today?"

"Where?"

"Well since you've been stuffed up in doors for such a long time I thought we'd go out, maybe to the beach for some surfing?"

"I can't surf."

"I can teach you."

"No I can't, I still have wounds from the surgery, Yoruichi."

"Then I've got a better idea. Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, come on."

* * *

"Where the hell are we? Did you get lost?" 

"No I didn't get lost. I come here all the time."

"We're lost, great."

"We're not lost, look there it is."

"What is it?"

"This is my old house, the one I grew up it."

"You grew up in a mansion?"

"Daughter of a King remember?" Now of course she would never mention this, but Yoruichi has a unique way of getting into houses. See, she likes to break into them when needed.

"Did you just pick the lock?"

"Shush, no one lives here anyway." Now if you think about the most extravagant house you've ever been in, it won't be hard to see how opposite this one is.

"Yoruichi this place is a dump."

"It is not, it just needs some cleaning… and maybe a few repairs."

--

"_Yoruichi, can I play with you today?"_

"_Hey Soi! Yeah sure, come on in."_

"_Yoruichi, I love your house, it's so big and pretty! I wish my house was like this."_

"_I don't, cause then you'd stay at your house all the time and never come over." The youngest girl chuckled and grabbed her friend's hand leading them into the backyard. _

"_Hey Yoruichi, how come I never see your mom and dad when I come over?"_

"_They… are really busy during the day." _

"_Oh."_

--

"The backyard's right through here."

"Wow, it's huge."

"Yeah we played here a lot. It's pretty run down now, but trust me. It looked amazing. Hey get on the swing, I'll push you like I used to."

"No way, it might collapse."

"No it won't, if this thing could take Urahara as a kid it can certainly take you."

"If I fall I'm gonna kill you," and she sat down, the taller woman resting her hands on Soi's back, ready to push.

--

"_Yoruichi," the young girl on the swing said as she turned around, swinging back and forth to look at her friend, "we're friends right?" _

"_Best friends, Soi."_

"_That's good; I thought you didn't like me."_

"_What? Who told you that?"_

"_My brother, he said 'cause you were a princess and I was a nobody we weren't friends. That you just felt sorry for me." The girl behind her stopped pushing and slowed down the swing grabbing onto the steel chains. She looked down into the eyes of the shorter girl and stared. _

"_Soi we're best friends, don't listen to what anyone says, ok?"_

"_Ok, that's good," Soi stretched her neck up, leaning close to Yoruichi _

--

and put a tender kiss on her left cheek, "because I like you."

* * *

What? Oh ho ho, someone's going to regret that. I love how Soi doesn't remember a thing because then I can make her do all sorts of crazy shit like, oh I don't know. A KISS. Muahaha. -Gets a nose bleed- Damn someone get me a tissue. 

6


	7. Liar, Liar, Catch on Fire

AN: Hm, I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to write smut in this, but I will include provocative situations. And basically everything there is besides actual smut. I'm just an innocent bystander to the mysteries of sex… ROFL besides it's not like I'm leaving you guys dry or anything.

Blah, I feel that if I write something in first person perspective it just flows better. So for this chapter everything in regular is in Yoruichi's POV and everything in _italics_ is in 3rd person- only because she and I have the same personality right down to the goofy attitude and catlike grin.

Rated: Who knows anymore, do you people even read the rating? I hope you do because the story's rated M! Not that there's anything you need to watch out for in this chapter. Maybe just some language and… well I really don't know, let's see when we get there.

* * *

Chapter 7, Liar, Liar, Catch on Fire

A burning sensation crept onto my cheek, a hand gently resting where Soi's lips had just been. My eyes wide, blank… confused. "Soi I-"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry… I don't know why I… It just happened." Her eyes shut tightly an arm reaching up to put pressure on her forehead. I could hear it throbbing, her skin pulsing. What to do? What could be done, helpless, I only watched, wanted to reach out and take the pain from her. She fell backwards, out cold into my arms and I squeezed her gently, reminding her subconscious I was still there. Seconds, minutes, hours it felt like.

"Soi wake up, please Soi." As if by magic, her lashes started to flutter giving way to silver irises.

"I remember the kiss."

"Of course you do, it just happened Soi." A warm smile appeared on my face as I looked down at her.

"No, when we were little. The first time I kissed you."

"Oh," I chuckled, "you were so cute back then, and you were mine, Soifon."

--

_A burning sensation crept onto her cheek, a hand gently resting where Soi's lips had just been. Eyes wide, blank… confused. "Soi I-"_

"_It's alright if I like you right? Even if we're both girls, I think boys are icky anyway." She turned around and stared forwards again watching a family of birds hop along the tips of the brown fencing. "My brother told me to stop liking you, he called me a fagot. Only, I don't know what that is. Yoruichi what's a fagot?"_

"_It's a bad word Soi. Don't ever let him call you that again ok? If he does, I'll beat him up." _

"_Ok. Yoruichi you still never told me what it is." _

"_It means you're gay, Soi." _

"_What's gay?" This made the taller girl laugh. _

"_It means you like girls." _

"_Oh. Hey Yoruichi are you gay too?" _

"_I dunno, I never thought about it. I guess so." She placed her hand on Soi's little head and grinned. "Cause I like you too." _

--

"What made you change?"

"What do you mean change?"

"Well… you aren't gay anymore are you?"

"To be honest I don't know." My heart skipped a beat at those words, the possibility of Soi actually liking me again… it was all too unbelievable. "Ever since my family died I haven't been able to really love anyone, I couldn't feel anything, like my emotions all submitted to numbness. Why Yoruichi, why did your mom do it?"

"My mom… Soi what did she do?" She sat there and stared blankly at nothing. "What did she do to you, Soi?"

--

"_It's getting dark Yoruichi; my dad won't like it if I'm late. I'll see you tomorrow ok?"_

"_Ok, Soi, see you tomorrow!" The shorter girl bobbed through the backyard and into the mansion, all lights off, shadows stretching and distorting along the white walls. An object, something soft, Soi collided with it. _

"_Yoruichi watch where you're- who the hell are you?"_

"_Oh hi Yoruichi's mom, it's me, Soifon." _

"_But you… why are you here? You were supposed to be home!" She was yelling at this point, the only thing Soi could see was the red that appeared in the grown woman's eyes, and she backed up, trying to get away. "You should be dead with the rest of them, that's what I ordered!" Hands reached for her, but Soi slid past, running towards the front door, her pigtails flying behind her. "Get back here. I'm going to kill you like the rest of your family." She felt a tug at her hair and she screamed. _

"_Let go, I want to go home!" _

"_You don't have anyplace to go."_

"_Yoruichi!" From the backyard, Yoruichi heard Soi's screams and ran, as fast as she could into the house, knocking over tables and objects in her way and she saw them. Panic, what was her mom doing? _

"_Mom what are you doing to Soi? Get off her!" _

"_Yoruichi go to your room, this doesn't involve you." _

"_Get off!" The girl launched herself at her mother and started punching her back, her neck, her head, anything she could reach. "Run, Soi!" The shorter girl got up and opened the door running down the street and never looking back, tears streaming down her face. _

"_Why you little brat, get off me!" Her mother's fist made contact with Yoruichi's face and she flew backwards into the nearest wall. "Now look what you've done. She's going to find out." Face swelling the girl got up and ran upstairs to her room and looked out the window. She couldn't see her friend anymore. At least she got away._

_

* * *

No longer worried, Soi stopped running and collapsed on the grass to catch her breath. At least she was almost home, she would be safe there, and she looked up in the direction of her house and saw thick black smoke rising into the air. "Mom? Dad?" Calling out to no one in particular, again Soi ran, but when she approached her house there were fire trucks and firemen outside dousing the house in gallons upon gallons of water. One of them saw her and jogged over. Kneeling he put his hand on her shoulder._

"_Are you ok?" She didn't answer; she just stared at the bright orange and yellow flames consuming her house. "Someone get me a medic. What's your name?" He couldn't get a response. "Is this your house?" Her head slightly bounced up and down._

"_Where's my mom and dad?"_

--

"She did it Yoruichi. She killed my family that night."

"What? No she couldn't have… she was… she was home the whole time."

"She told me herself, right before she tried to kill me. And then you showed up. Don't you remember?"

"Soi I'm- I swear to god I'll kill her. She won't ever get near you again, I promise. I just-"

"No. Don't do anything. It's over. Making her suffer won't change what's already been done."

"But Soi, I can't let her-" I didn't expect it; her kiss threw me off guard, and it left me spinning. Our lips melted together, a sweet innocent gesture.

"Shut up." And again she pressed up against me. With a rough swipe to my lower lip her tongue gained entrance and together we fought for dominance. I won of course, lifting her off the swing and pushing her to the ground where I climbed on top and we continued. So many things should have run through my mind but it was like autopilot. I couldn't even begin to think what was going on. My body wouldn't stop, lust was building up, and my hand reached under her shirt, ready to pull it off and I brushed against her bandages freezing. Wake up call; stop molesting your best friend. I broke for air and looked down at her; it was obvious she had been crying. "Why didn't you stop me if you didn't want to do it?"

She opened her eyes and her expression looked dead. "I wanted you to forget about it, I didn't want you to feel like it had been your fault because it wasn't. You saved my life."

"And so you kissed me? You thought that would make me stop caring that my own mother murdered your family? What's wrong with you Soi? You think I'm that shallow?" I got off her and stood up facing the house, my back towards her, the orange jacket I wore trembling in the strong breeze. "Well I've got news for you, I'm not, as surprising as that might sound. And if you ever pull a stunt like that again you can live somewhere else. Got it? Now get in the fucking car."

* * *

God I'm such a drama whore, how depressing. I hope this chapter wasn't too obvious for you guys. I felt that the earlier conflict with Yoruichi's mom had to be worked on and this was the only thing that came to mind as to why Yoruichi would hate her. Obviously not the house fire because she didn't know, but the attack on Soi's life.

On a side note this may be the last chapter till mid January because of vacation and exams, but if I can I'll try to write one this coming weekend or when I get back from New York. Until then, have a happy holidays and a grand, drunk new year.

Love, Tear

7


	8. Along Came a Black Cat

AN: HAPPY NEW YEARS! I'm back in business, and now that Christmas has ended and a New Year has started I'm making a resolution. I'm going to live out every day to its fullest so that the year goes by slower and I can hold on to what little childhood time I have left. Happy birthday, Yoruichi!

And we're back to 3rd person POV because I'm a lazy bum FTW!

Rating: M for language that little ones should not read. Doesn't make any sense 'cause I heard all these words back in elementary school… crazy ass society. Oh and torturing Yoruichi with Soi, muahaha.

* * *

Chapter 8: Along Came a Black Cat

"Yoruichi…" Soi turned to her left and stared at the face of her best friend. "If you're still talking to me I'm sorry. I didn't mean upset you; I thought you wanted..."

"What I wanted?" Yoruichi's gaze drifted to and from Soi's. "What I want is for you to be happy. It doesn't matter how much I like you. If you aren't comfortable then I'll leave you alone alright?" The younger girl looked back out her right window, not wanting to answer. It's not like she disliked Yoruichi or anything, she just wasn't interested in thinking about it right now. She still had so much to deal with trying to figure out how she was going to get her old life back.

Their car pulled up to the house and they sat there, the moon almost full, illuminating the interior. "Soi are you ok? Ever since you lost your memory everything about you has changed. Is it really that bad?"

"Not really, it's just frustrating, but I can assume it would be worse if I didn't have you to help me. Thanks." The raven haired girl leaned forward and brushed her lips against Yoruichi's ear, making the dark skin twitch, but paused as if she had remembered something, then opened the side door and walked into the house.

"Damn it Kukaku, why do you have to be right all the time. If Soi doesn't stop messing around something bad really will happen, and I won't be able to help it." She sighed and stepped into the cold night air, hugging her body.

* * *

"Surprise!" Yoruichi's fist flew forward and collided with Urahara's eye. "Ow, son of a…"

"Kisuke what the hell are you doing jumping out at me like that!"

"I told you not to stand there Urahara."

"How was I supposed to know she'd hit me?"

"Soi what is going on?"

"How should I know? I just walked in and he freaked out at me. That's why his other eye is bruised."

"Kisuke what the hell are you doing?"

"Going blind."

"Ugh, come on I'll get you some ice." She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged his 'sorry ass' into the kitchen. "Here." Apparently she didn't feel all that bad and threw it at his face which he managed to catch with his eye.

"Thanks."

"You know better than to jump out at me."

"I just wanted to say happy birthday! You and Soi were out all day and I didn't see you this morning. Which reminds me, Kukaku came back in with a present for you, but she said she left it in your room. Something about 'fuckin' why couldn't she just'a waited for me ta come back tha rapist'."

"That definitely sounds like her," She laughed. "Anyway thanks for remembering Kisuke, but I'm kinda tired I think I'll just go to sleep."

"Don't ya want your present?"

"Maybe tomorrow. Hey does Soi know it's my birthday?"

"I don't know, I don't think she does."

"Ok don't tell her."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid of what might happen. At this point anything could trigger her memories, and after today I'm not interested in another explosion. Night."

"G'night, Yoruichi."

The stairs vibrated as she lazily strolled to her room with heavy steps. Life, who needs it? "Blah it doesn't make any sense, why torture me by coming back now Soi? Of any other time in my existence, you chose now. Stupid coincidences." Her finger tips pushed against the wood door and it creaked on its hinges as she let herself in, noticing Soi sitting on her bed with her shirt off and her back towards her.

"Soi?"

"Yoruichi, could you help me take off my bandages? I need to take a shower." The taller woman's face set on fire as she stared at the ridges that marked Soi's spine. "Oh and I love Kukaku's present."

"You saw it?"

"Yeah, she's so cute."

"Well I always found Kukaku too dikeish for my taste, but to each his own."

"No not Kukaku, your kitten."

"My what?" Soi turned to face Yoruichi, revealing a little ball of fur on her lap, purring as the girl scratched its ear.

"Why'd she give you a present anyway?"

"Uh, well…" Yoruichi shifted uncomfortably on her left foot unsure if she should tell Soi the truth. Then again what's the worst that could happen? "It's kind of my birthday today." After nothing emotional happened, she walked over and grabbed the kitten by the skin of its neck and held it up to her eyes inspecting it.

"Your birthday? Why didn't you tell me! How old are you?"

"Twenty-three." The kitten opened a yellow eye and swatted at its holder's nose, Yoruichi scrunching up her face in effect, then threw it on the bed where it somersaulted a few times before getting back up and bowing forward on its front paws. It pounced off the bed and landed on a sock rolling back and fourth in a playful manner.

Soi too got up and drifted towards the birthday girl and turned around, her back now facing the others. Resisting the urge to bite down on Soi's exposed neck, Yoruichi placed her hands on the white bandages before her and undid the end piece, unraveling it from around the girl's torso, and it fell to the floor. The shorter girl turned back around and in a sensual manner, rested her hand at the base of her friend's collar bone, and it slid down her chest before she walked past her and into the bathroom. The site was more than Yoruichi could have asked for, hell anyone could have asked for, and she looked back at the kitten that stared at her with curious eyes and a sock in its mouth. "What are you looking at?" It just meowed and went back to chewing. "Damn it, one little gesture and I'm already aroused. I need some cold water."

* * *

After splashing some water on her face from the downstairs kitchen, Yoruichi started back upstairs and into her room, lying down on her side of the bed with her hands behind her head looking up at the ceiling. Her mind betrayed her and went back to thought's of Soi's silver eyes, her full pink lips, her slender creamy white neck, her perfect round… Argh pervert. Stop that. She made it clear she wasn't into you just forget what you saw. But she couldn't, mainly because of the deep cuts that ran along Soi's chest, and the fact that Soi knowingly touched her collar bone in such a provocative way. Didn't that mean she wanted something? Being no expert on the subject she just dismissed it.

The black blur on the floor jumped at the bed and punctured the sides with its claws, stuck at the moment. Yoruichi glanced over and sighed lifting the cat onto her stomach where she began to stroke its soft black fur. "You know, I've known you for 3 minutes and already you like me more than she does. What am I doing wrong?" Continuous purring met her ears and she dropped her head back into the pillow and stared back up at the ceiling. "I should just be happy she's alive, right? I shouldn't be trying to get in her pants, plus I'm getting married to Kisuke. Hell why am I even going through with this wedding anyway?" She looked back down at the sleeping body. "You have it easy, I wish I could be a cat, all you do is sleep and get Soi's attention. Not to mention so far she's touched you longer than she has me."

The sound of running water stopped and Yoruichi turned her attention to the bathroom door in her room and pretended to be asleep when Soi poked her head out. Satisfied at the appearance of Yoruichi, she exited with a towel around her body and headed into the girl's closet where she looked around, finally pulling out a small black shirt with a yellow stripe running around the abdomen and vertical yellow stripes on each sleeve, and long grey exercise pants with the words 'Track Star' written on the back. The towel around her body dropped and Yoruichi's eyes sprang open, but if you had asked she was still asleep. Then the shorter girl started to turn around, and the 'sleeping' girl's eyes shut tightly, and Soi strolled over pulling out fresh bandages and wrapped her body, then got dressed. She then turned her attention to the two figures on the bed and smiled at how cute they looked. Crawling onto the mattress, she pulled the sheets up, reaching over and patting the little body and brushed the hair out of Yoruichi's eyes placing a light kiss on her forehead. "Maybe I like you more than I'm ready to admit," She whispered, "but I'm not sure if I can do this right now, I hope you understand." And she rolled over on her side facing the opposite direction. Luckily for her, Yoruichi understood, but it didn't help out their situation at all.

* * *

"Why are you sleeping on my face!" Yoruichi yelled at the kitten who was now frightened to death at having been woken up in such a rude manner. It was not a good morning, Soi wasn't in the room with her, and she had a stuffy nose, plus now there was cat hair in her mouth. "Argh!" She stood up and got some clothes with her then headed into the bathroom to take a shower. When was the last time she had one anyway?

* * *

"Morning, Yoruichi." Soi got a grunt in response.

"Aww, no breakfast this morning?"

"I told you there's no food in the house. You do have some cream cheese in there though. Are you feeling ok? You look a little tired."

"I think I've got a cold." Soi walked over and rested her hand on Yoruichi's forehead checking her temperature.

"Yeah you have a fever. Go back upstairs and get in bed."

"Only if you come with me." Rejected, it was a nice try though.

"I'm going out to get some medicine and food. You stay here and try to go back to sleep."

"I just woke up, I'm not tired. Besides I need to run today, the Olympics are coming up!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to be in the Olympics as one of the top U.S runners. I need to go back to training."

"As much as I'd love to believe that, you need rest so get upstairs and lay down."

"I knew this was going to be a bad day."

* * *

Soi returned from the store with grocery bags in her hands and placed them on the counter, putting everything in its respectable places. Getting out some orange juice and medicine, she walked upstairs and opened Yoruichi's door noticing her sitting up wrapped in a sheet while looking down at a thick book. "I thought I told you to get some sleep?"

"I thought I told you I wasn't tired." Soi frowned and sat on the bed next to Yoruichi and looked over at the book.

"Aww you were so cute when you were little, who's that?"

"That's you, Soi."

"Oh, you kept these pictures all that time?"

"I would never throw them out. Until you came back they meant the world to me. It's not half as good as the real thing, but I still looked at em every day, trying not to forget your face incase I ever saw you again. Who would have guessed huh?" A comfortable silence ensued as both girls glanced over the following pages, Soi smiling throughout at how goofy they were. How happy they looked.

"Yoruichi… I know it isn't the smartest thing in the world right now, but you want to give it a shot?"

"Give what a shot?"

"Us." Realization sunk in and Yoruichi looked as if she was pondering the proposal. A sad smile crossed her face and she looked back into those familiar eyes that reminded her of everything she loved.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Why is Yoruichi sick? Because I'm sick and I've got to tell you. Colds BLOW.

Sorry if this chapter was lacking, but I can't see to clearly and my nose is like freaking Niagara Falls. You're welcome for that mental image.

New York is cold, I mean like I almost froze to death. Yeah it was that bad, plus I can't handle the snow! I'm a warm blooded Floridian. Sue me. No don't.

And reviewing will help my cold go away. Especially since .76 of the total story hits I get are reviews. That's not even 1 -Passes Out- (Btw if you didn't know you can review a story without having an account, now go crazy.)

8


	9. Bang, Bang, Pussycat

AN: I don't know what's going through my mind right now, I have a strong attraction to action, sorry. So before I write this chapter, I'm gonna hope everything works out, if not, damn. It was a good run while it lasted.

Rated: M for violence, gore, and a lot of cursing. In case you're wondering, I don't plan stories out; I have no idea what's going to happen just like you. Normally I sit down and type whatever the hell pops into my head, and if it looks good on word, alright then. Hit it up!

* * *

Chapter 9, Bang, Bang, Pussycat

"I'm sorry? What? You don't want this to happen then?" Grey eyes collided with yellow ones; they were soft, warm and pleading.

"Soi, listen to me." Her hand reached out and brushed along a white jaw line, lifting a creamy chin up to see better into those silver pools. "Right now I've wanted nothing more, but in our current situation-"

"Current situation, what the hell are you talking about? My memory loss isn't so severe that you should base our entire future on it."

"No that's not it… I-"

"Yoruichi…" Kisuke threw the wooden door to the room open. The walls started to vibrate from the force. "Would you make me some tea?" he said with frantic expression on his face.

"Kisuke you don't have to be so dramatic, Yoruichi and I are talking about something. Could you-"

"How many lumps?"

"What the hell's going on?"

"Five."

"Shit." Yoruichi got off the sheets and dropped to the floor reaching under the bed. Urahara ran out of the room and thumped downstairs, slamming the door to the basement.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" The taller woman stood up with a handgun in her left palm, and she pulled back the slide while it pointed at the ceiling. "Is that a gun?" After it made a sharp clicking sound she went into her closet and changed into a pair of jet black wind pants with zippers that ran horizontally around the knee, and an equally as black tank with a triangle collar trimmed in white. Following suit, a police style gun holster with two matching firearms adorned her shoulders. Finally throwing her hair into a ponytail she exited the walk-in and threw a heavy vest at Soi.

"Put it on."

"Are you insane? You look like you just walked off the set of an action film, no way in hell am I putting a bullet proof vest on. And where the fuck did all this stuff come from?"

"Soi, shut up, and put it on."

"Not until you tell me what you're doing!" The darker woman walked briskly to the window and rested her back against the wall, grasping one of the guns in her hands, and turning slightly to look outside. A black van was parked out front, and 2 men holding AK47's jogged to the front door and stood on either side.

"This is fucking insane, I had no idea she was willing to go this far." Yoruichi stopped talking to herself and turned around to look at Soi. "Look, my mother discovered you were still alive and that you're here living with me. While I was at the hospital with you I told Urahara to plan for the most extreme circumstances, I know what she's capable of, and I know this is a little hard to believe, but right now 5 guys with fucking weapons are trying to break in and kidnap you alright? So just put on the fucking vest."

"Are you kidding me? You expect me to believe that not only do you have guns in your house, but that you also know how to use them, and you're prepared for some crazy FBI invasion of the house just so your deranged mother can put a bullet in my head? That's it; I'm getting out of this house. You're all insane." Soi stood up to leave, but Yoruichi jumped forward and they landed together on the floor before a barrage of bullets poured through the window shattering it, spraying glass at everything.

"Stay away from the window."

"Oh my god, I'm going to die."

"You're not going to die, Soi. Not while I'm here. I trust your military experience has had you holding weapons before right?"

"Yes, but what exactly are you proposing?" The gold in Yoruichi's eyes started glistening and she crawled towards the closet again.

"Put the vest on." Soi did as she was told and the taller woman came out with a Beretta and motioned for the girl to come over. Once she was safely in the closet, Yoruichi turned around and pulled out a belt with magazine holders attached and grabbed Soi roughly around the waist strapping it on, and handed her the gun.

"I don't believe this."

"Well even if you don't, get ready. Cause this house is about to get pretty messy."

"Just what did you say you do for a living?"

"When your family is constantly targeted by radicals who try to assassinate you, you learn a few things- like how to protect yourself from guys with very large guns. Ready?"

"For what?" The door to the room burst open again and Yoruichi ran to the edge of the closet door and started firing into the hallway.

"Find Urahara."

"What the hell is he gonna do?"

"You thought Urahara was just around for show? He's a genius and invents all types of crazy ass things." She turned back and fired more rounds. "It's kind of like living with the guy who gives the gadgets to James Bond, only this is real life, babe. His basement is practically impenetrable, that's where you're going. Once inside, lift up the brown rug in the center. Underneath is a door. Pull open the latch and climb inside, push the red button along the wall. You'll be safe in there till this is over."

"And just how the hell do you expect me to get downstairs?" Yoruichi moved to the back of the small room and pushed aside some hanging clothes and hit the wall causing a door to slide open. There was a long spiral staircase that led down into a glow of blue light. "Are you kidding me? Anything else?" After she fired more at the bedroom door, Yoruichi turned around and grabbed Soi's arm pulling her into a deep kiss. When they broke apart Soi gave her an incredulous stare.

"What? A kiss for good luck, now go." Soi stepped onto the staircase and Yoruichi slammed her fist against the wall again causing it to shut completely and replaced the clothing back to where it was.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever heard of, guns and attractive women pulling me into closets, and banging on walls to open secret doors. I swear to god this whole damn experience is so farfetched I must be dreaming." Soi continued to jog down the steel steps still holding the Beretta, not quite sure what could possibly happen next. "Crazy Japanese culture and its action drama, nothing like this ever happens to Americans."

* * *

Yoruichi crouched onto the floor and stopped firing, grabbing magazines and stuffing them in her pockets. More shots rang out and penetrated the walls around her. She let out a fake cry of pain and slammed her foot onto the wooden floor, causing a loud thump. When footsteps cautiously approached her, she sprang up and unleashed a wave of heavy metal into the two men who dropped with a splattering of red behind them.

She turned back and pulled out a small backpack with two pockets and filled the front with knives and more weapons. Seriously this is too much where the hell is all this coming from? Then a small head with bright yellow eyes bobbed its way out of one of her shoes. "You know, curiosity killed the cat." And she lifted the small feline out of the shoe and dropped it into the bag, leaving it partly unzipped for air. "Ok, Kisuke said there were 5, and since two are here, I'm assuming one is still in the van, which means… we have a couple more rats to take care of." A vibrating noise was heard across the room and her eyes darted towards it. Carefully walking towards the sound, she picked up her phone and opened it with a snap. "What is it?"

"_Yoruichi, my dear, how are things?" _

"Well, I'm sure you have a pretty good idea, Mother."

"_Now, now, I'm only doing this for your benefit. I'm not interested in hurting you or Urahara; after all we wouldn't want scars in your wedding photos would we?" _Yoruichi's brow connected in frustration.

"I'm not getting married."

The voice on the other line was no longer sweet and pleasant, and instead it called out in rage. _"You listen to me, I'm your mother and I will not have you ruining our name. We are the proud Shihouin family, and you will get married and have children to pass on that name. Understood?"_

"Ha, proud? You're a psychopath, you always have been. Which is one of the reasons I hate you so much, I can't believe you killed Soi's family."

"… _I had no choice."_

"Liar, you did have a choice. And if you had done the right thing maybe we would be on better terms right now, and I wouldn't be here painting my walls with your men."

"_You think I care if you like me? You're such a rotten brat, you always have been, now listen, I have something that might interest you. The girl, we have her. You'll go through with the wedding understood?"_ Tires outside squealed as they left a dark black smear across the pavement, the black van out front raced off down the street, and Yoruichi sprinted out of the bedroom thumping down the stairs and kicked the basement door down. Reaching the foot of the steps, she found Urahara unconscious by the hastily discarded rug, and the open door to the safe room. The phone in her hand shot back up to her ear.

"You listen to me you sick son of a bitch; if I find one scratch on her I'll shoot you myself you got that?"

"_Do we have an agreement?" _

"Yes." She looked back over at Kisuke and threw the phone at the wall, smashing the plastic and watched as the battery slid across the fresh red tiles.

* * *

… I don't know what happened either.

"Stay turned for previews of next week's episode, which will tie into this action packed disaster. Clash of the Shihouin!"

Bull, I really don't know what's gonna happen, stupid cliff hanger.

9


	10. Crimson Knuckles

AN: Mk, first off it's only been 3 weeks. I had planned on updating sooner but I had a lot to deal with between the accident, and the hospital, then midterms, and car shopping, and strobe lights, condom piñatas… Anyway :l I'm gonna just let you read. Sorry for the lack of action, but I need to set up the rest of the story.

Rated: M for the usual crap

* * *

Chapter 10, Crimson Knuckles

"Get up." Yoruichi pushed her foot hard into Kisuke's side, forcefully rolling him on his back. The blonde just continued to lay there, motionless. "Kisuke I know you aren't unconscious so get up before I beat you to death for loosing Soi." His eyes snapped open and he tried his best so slide across the room on his butt.

"Y-Yoruichi, I…" Feeling an unpleasant moisture on his palm Kisuke raised it to eye level and inspected the red substance. "Oh no I'm bleeding, quick call an ambulance! I feel myself growing faint."

"Alright drama queen, stand up this isn't the time to be messing around. Give me your phone."

"You're no fun Yoruichi! And why don't you just use your phone?"

"Because my phone is broken… again."

"What did I tell you about throwing that thing? That's the third time this month." He started shuffling around in his lab coat and handed her the device. "Don't throw it."

"Yeah, yeah, start cleaning up this mess before a cop shows up." She headed upstairs while punching in the numbers on Kisuke's phone, ignoring the trail of blood she left on each step.

"Kukaku, get over here."

* * *

The black haired woman hoped the white tank she was wearing would hide the painfully obvious gun jutting out of the back of her jeans. If not she was more than happy to convince them that the situation wasn't conspicuous. Growling, Kukaku stepped through the empty doorframe and into the house, careful to avoid the busted door laying half hazardously on the floor. Things like this always seemed to happen right as she sat down for a nap. "Yoruichi, get yer ass out here."

"I'm in the kitchen." The crunch of broken pottery and glass on the floor didn't bother her so much as the drops of blood leading out the door.

"This better be your blood, Yoruichi." She said as she kicked it aside on her way to the younger woman. Upon site of her, Kukaku noticed the exasperated expression the other woman had drawing on her face, the splatters on her face and arms, and the tears in her clothing. "Ya look like hell ta be honest."

"Well, for some reason I don't doubt that." She said in a heavily harassing voice.

"Stop cleaning for a second and tell me how your mom got her." Yoruichi ignored her and continued to shove glass into a brown box with her hands, she didn't mind the prickles on her skin that pierced the flesh, and it didn't bother her because every part of her body was numb. "Yoruichi stop." More glass found its way into her hands and after the larger pieces had been thrown away, she grew frustrated at the smaller ones, unable to pick them up, cursing. Kukaku walked over and grabbed her wrist holding it up to the shorter woman's face. "Look what you're doing, Yoruichi. Just stop for a second." The gold in her eyes faded and her skin was getting pale. "Ya think Soi would want you doin this right now?"

"Shut up."

"Look, yer hands are covered in blood, ya look like shit, and ya won't be able to rescue her if-" A dark fist thrust it's way into a pale cheek, and Kukaku's head snapped to the side, taking the blow hard. Deep heavy breaths came from Yoruichi and she cocked her hands up, ready for a strike back. The taller woman turned her head to face her and spat at the ground, disposing of the familiar taste in her mouth.

"Don't you dare tell me that."

"Tch." Kukaku reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small black square. She pushed a thin button on the side and the device lit up showing a grid of coordinates which adopted colors, and a red blinking dot appeared, moving rather fast across the screen. She threw it at Yoruichi, who caught it and dropped an eyebrow, confused. "That dot is Soi, right now she's movin across tha Pacific ocean. My guess… yer mom is takin her ta Japan as we speak. If ya don't calm the fuck down I'm not gonna bring ya with me." Yoruichi threw the device back and walked over to the sink, turning on the water to rinse off her hands and squinted at the pain.

"You're gonna take me with you either way, so what does it matter?" She stated drying off her hands on a nearby cloth.

"Why are ya acting like this?"

"Why do you think?"

"Ya act as if she's already dead."

"How the hell can you be sure she isn't?"

"Because if ya thought Soi's was dead, yer mom wouldn have much of a bargaining chip and tha whole plan would be pointless up till now."

"She's not a bargaining chip. She's a person."

"Yoruichi don't give me that bull, she's a pawn and as soon as yer mom gets what she wants, she'll kill Soi. You know this as well as I do. The only thing I dun understand is how ya let her get kidnapped in tha first place. I knew I shoulda stayed here, but I trusted ya to at least protect her from a few guys. Damn it, what happened?"

"I don't know."

"Well ya better start learnin cause right now we gotta find a way ta get ta Japan, and this time yer not gonna fly us. Last time we almost crashed into a fuckin mountain 'cause ya were goofin off."

"I'm too tired to think right now Kukaku. My house is a mess; Soi's probably going to die by a crazy psychopath with access to all of Japans best fighters, Kisuke wet his pants at the sight of a gun, and to top it off, I've got you in my house yelling at me for losing Soi when it wasn't my fault, and it's only 11 am."

"Then why the hell did ya call me?"

"Because, I fucked up bad, and I'm freaking out, and I don't want to loose her to my mom again. Damn it why can't she just let me live the way I want to live, why does it matter who I like?"

"Because yer the only one she has left."

"She has my dad."

"Yoruichi…"

"I mean it's not like he wouldn't spend any time with her."

"Yoruichi."

"I know she's not the most pleasant woman, but for some reason he likes her."

"Yer dad is dead, Yoruichi."

"He's… After all this shit why would you start lying to me? It's not funny, Kukaku."

"I'm not lyin to ya; he died of lung cancer last year. That's why yer mom was furious when she found out Soi was back. She knew ya'd fall in love with her, and the wedding would never happen. She wants an heir. Where are ya goin?" Yoruichi left the kitchen and walked upstairs. Once in her room she pulled out a large duffle bag and started filling it with whatever weapons she could find, making sure they were all unloaded and then threw a few clothes in, zipping it up and thossed it over her shoulder. "Yoruichi."

"Drive me to the airport."

"They won't let ya on a plane with all that. You'll get yer ass arrested."

"I'm not taking a public plane." She pulled out Kisuke's cell again and looked up at the ceiling in thought. Remembering the number, she dialed and held the phone to her ear.

"Who are ya calling?" Damn it took him a long time to answer the phone. "Yoruichi…" Silence. "Hang up the phone."

"Moshimoshi, Yachiru. Can you put your uncle on the phone?" Kukaku lunged at Yoruichi pinning her to the floor and attempted to take the phone away. The girl underneath her pulled her feet forward and kneed the black haired woman in the head and rolled over. "Kenpachi, you aren't busy are you? Cause I have a favor to ask."

* * *

Don't tell me you weren't expecting it. I love Zaraki, he's probably one of the only overly strong characters in the series that I respect. Then again, now I suppose you can predict what will happen.

It's a race against time, I dare you to win.


	11. Foreign Affairs

AN: K check it out, a few new characters are being introduced I hope I kept their personalities similar to that of Bleach's. If not let me know. I also tried to make Zaraki the comic relief character as well as the bad ass cause that's what he basically is.

Rating: Expect the rating to be M for the next few chapters.

* * *

Chapter 11, Foreign Affairs

"How in the hell did I ever let ya talk me inta this?" Kukaku turned to her right to look at a sleepy Yoruichi.

"You said this time I couldn't fly, and the gang happens to have its own pilots. The fact is we're already over the pacific so if you wanna back out now, the parachutes are somewhere around here." She raised her arms above her head and stretched out the best she could in the confined area, finally resting her heels on the armrest in front of her. Kisuke, who slept behind them near the window mumbled a bit before falling back to sleep.

"So girls, when does the fun start?" Kukaku tensed up at the deep almost creepy voice that echoed out of the huge head next to her.

"Zaraki, I was wondering when you would… holy. New haircut?"

"Yes, Yoruichi."

"Its…

"A bit pointy." The taller man growled at the Shiba daring her to say another word then smiled showing her a wide view of his sharp… teeth. He finally stood all the way up, still bending a little at the neck because of his height and equally as tall hair. "Well he's pleasant."

"Anyway, me and the boys were wonderin' when the fight started."

"You're always so impatient." Yoruichi rested her hands behind her head turning back to the front and sliding her lids closed.

"Can you blame us? Here you are callin' me for a fight and we have to fly across the damn ocean just to get there."

"You had to fly across the ocean when you left Japan, so what's the difference?"

"That was years ago, besides," he flashed her a grin even though he was aware she wasn't looking, "too much longer and we're gonna have a problem."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Well we haven't fought in ages, what do ya say?"

"I say ya two better sit down. We're on a plane that's eight feet wide, 27,000 feet in tha air, and ya two want ta start punchin' holes in the damn thing."

"Who the hell is this weakling anyway? She's got a lot of nerve standing up to me."

"Zaraki you couldn't land one punch on that girl, she'd flip you so hard on your back you'd loose more brain cells than you have left. And you won't even know what happened."

"Maybe you don't know my reputation back in Santa Cruz, Yoruichi. I run the entire district, if you think this little girl can set me flat I'd like to see-" Kukaku jumped out of her chair and grabbed the back, swinging her legs semicircle to collide with his huge chest.

"Little girl my ass, ya talk a lot of shit for a guy who doesn't know who he's referin' to." She stood with her legs on either side of his body above him. The massive head leaned forward smiling.

"Lucky shot."

"Luck had nothin' ta do with it ya scum bag." He grabbed her leg and stood up, tipping her upside down.

"Kenny!" A little pink blur pushed Kukaku aside, who was still collecting blood at the tip of her head, and jumped on Zaraki's back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Whatcha doin', Kenny? Playin' a game? Can I play?"

"No I was just havin' a little fun with this one. Let's go back."

"Ok, Kenny!" She started giggling as Zaraki dropped Kukaku on the floor and walked towards the tail of the aircraft. "Can we get some chocolate when we land?" He just grunted in response and hulked onward.

"Son of a… ya know the strangest people. I'm almost afraid to ask where you met this one."

"He runs my favorite restaurant actually."

"Ha, what an odd guy. He cooks?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

* * *

The plane landed rather rocky on the runway which wasn't surprising seeing as the weather was pouring rain. "It's lucky, we called a few cars pick to pick us up huh?" A silent agreement was shared among the group in response to Ikkaku's question as they struggled to get their carryon off the company plane. Zaraki just stood up and those in his path launched into the nearest seat to get out of his way, except Kukaku, who unaware that the huge man was walking down the aisle stood up to reach for her backpack above the seat. He stopped behind her waiting for her to jump in fear and she ignored him as if he hadn't been worth the effort.

"Move."

"Why don't ya learn some damn manners and wait fer me to get my stuff." His eyes headed toward the ceiling as he sighed and pushed her into the seat next to them, and continued out the plane with a small girl clinging to his white jacket.

"Oh we're gonna have problems." She marched after them when her collar was yanked backwards and Yoruichi rolled her eyes.

"Don't start, we have a mission, the last thing I need is for you to kill each other." And she strolled off leaving Kukaku to grumble about spiky headed dumb asses.

* * *

"That ain't lucky." Ikkaku simply stared along with the rest of the Santa Cruz district members at the 5 Fortwos that lined up in red, blue, gold, white, and black. "You didn't really rent these small pieces of junk did you?" Everyone turned their attention to Zaraki who walked up to the small car and towered 2 feet over the roof of the vehicle. "It looks like it got sandwiched between two angry walls."

"Aww, Kenny it's so cute!" Yachiru jumped off him and onto the car laying down and gliding her hand over the top almost like she was hugging it. Zaraki reached into his pocket for his phone as the whole group got soaking wet from the rain. Yoruichi in particular was rather uncomfortable so she hid under her jacket.

"Yeah, we're at the airport." There was buzzing on the other line, but the person wasn't loud enough to hear. "Yeah and we're standing out here in the rain with these five useless cars you decided to get for us." The group behind him started shivering. "No I don't know if they work, we rented SUVs not these fucking dwarf cars, you have one minute to get us replacements or you can bet I'll be down there to kick your ass even if I have to walk in the pouring rain you got that?" The buzzing got louder and the person on the other line hung up. He crushed the phone in his palm and opened the door to the small vehicle and got inside. "Get in the damn cars. Those of you that don't fit have to walk to the hotel."

It wasn't the fact that the gel in Zaraki's hair was causing his spikes to weaken to the point of a limp, or the fact that his pants were sticking tightly to his legs, but rather the fact that this six foot four man was sitting in a car about three feet long from tip to trunk that the entire district held back the laugh threatening to bust from their lips. He slammed the door shut and they all chuckled and fought to get into the remaining dwarfs. Yachiru swung off the roof and into the seat next to Zaraki while Kukaku strolled over to the nearest car almost ripping the door off and threw the guys inside out, getting behind the wheel. Yoruichi sprinted to the passenger's seat to avoid the water as Kisuke, who finally woke up ran off the plane with his bag and jumped in between them. Needless to say it was uncomfortable for all of them, and the group took off, rather awkwardly I might add down the street. And if anyone dared to look at him odd, Zaraki managed to pull of a bad ass look quite well in such a ridiculous car.

* * *

A splitting headache pulsed its way through Soi's head as her vision slowly came back after opening her eyes for the first time in 24 hours. A dull pain appeared at her open sores as she felt blood trickling onto her leg from the rope tied tightly around her torso. Once the blur faded, she looked around the room, eyes half open, the light above her was a piercing bright white, but didn't lighten the rest of the room which remained shrouded in blackness. A dark skinned woman stepped into her vision; this woman looked a lot like Yoruichi. Soi's head snapped back and she tried to push the chair away from the approaching figure with her feet, but she was in too much pain. "Don't struggle; you'll only bleed a lot worse. I need you a live for a little bit longer."

"Why haven't you killed me yet?"

"I'm sure my daughter has told you about the wedding. Well it seems the only way I could convince her to get married was if something horrible happened to you."

"She would never agree to that."

"Well that's where you're wrong, she already agreed. You know, you're lucky she even looks at you; she's too high of nobility to even be friends with someone like you. And yet some how you brainwashed her into liking you, you made her think she was a lesbian. When she gets married she'll realize she loves Kisuke, not you. Then I'll dispose of you."

"You're such a horrible mother."

"Be quiet."

"You think this is actually what she wants, or what you want?"

"Shut up." Soi started laughing.

"How the hell she ever came from you I don't understand, but just for the record I never convinced her of anything. She was never interested in guys, in fact just a few days ago she slipped her tongue into my mouth and-" A sharp sound echoed across the room as Soi hid the burning sensation on her cheek, a red hand print remaining.

"I don't think you understand who's holding the cards here. If you didn't notice you're in no position to be speaking out of turn. Your life is in my hands."

"You just said so yourself, there's no way you could risk killing me, Yoruichi would never get married."

"She would never know you were dead or alive either way, I could kill you right now if I wanted."

"Then why don't you? It's the perfect opportunity."

"_Shihouin-sama, we've received word of an American aircraft landing just twenty minutes ago, the passengers are a bunch of thugs with a dark skinned young woman, another woman, light skinned of the same age, and a young man with blonde hair." _Soi stared at the radio which was now in the taller woman's hand. There's no way that was a coincidence, Yoruichi actually came to rescue her. _"Orders?" _

"Kill everyone."

"You can't do that, Yoruichi's one of them!"

"Then she'll have learn to follow the rules next time wont she?"

* * *

This chapter is a bit longer than the last, and I think I did ok with getting it out pretty fast. And if you can't tell, I expect the next chapter to be very complicated, maybe action packed. So be sure to watch out for that within a week or so.

On a side note, sorry if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. I noticed a lot in the last chapter that I missed. I don't have a beta so I kinda just keep reading it till I find something wrong. I tried to look for them harder this chapter, but after all I'm far from perfect. Thanks for reading.

11


	12. Delivery, Courtesy of Mr Reaper

AN: Ok so I've gone over the ending of the story in my head a few times, and as much as I don't want it to draw to a close, I expect the conclusion within the next two chapters. And the way it is now, a few people will be upset with me on how I'm ending it, but I've finally grown some guts and I'm not going to change my mind. I'm only upset I never got to focus on Yoruichi and Soi as a couple, in which case I am extremely tempted to write another YoruSoi story actually following the plot of Bleach. You'll understand how the two stories relate in the final chapter. Until then, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 12, Delivery, Courtesy of Mr. Reaper

"Good Evening." Two massive hands gripped onto the front of the check in counter. "We have a reservation here, last name Zaraki." The small man behind the counter stood still trying extremely hard not to wet himself; then realized it would be best to comply with this guy as not to piss him off.

"Uh, y-yes, Sir." He gulped and quickly typed the name into the computer database, then turned around and removed eight keys from the bottom hangers on his board. The huge man held out his hand, but the smaller man stood paralyzed in front of him.

"Keys." As if awoken from sleep, the keys found their way into Zaraki's palm and he turned around, handing them out to his subordinates.

"Y-your bags will be delivered sh-shortly to your rooms, if you c-could write your room numbers on these slips and tie them to what belongs to you that would help, t-thanks." They complied and made their way to the elevators. Kenpachi, Yachiru, Kukaku, Urahara, and Yoruichi filed into the first elevator, the rest of the guys waiting for the next few.

"Kenny, can I press it, please?" Yachiru tugged on his jacket before his finger reached the button.

"Floor twelve." He lifted her up high enough so she could press the top floor.

"Ok!" Instead of pressing 12, like any normal person in the world, Yachiru, of course, pressed every number on the panel. Zaraki's right eyebrow and patch twitched, and he let her back down onto the floor. She let out a squeal of joy and Kukaku rested her hand on her face in irritation, leaving Yoruichi to sigh, and Kisuke just smiled and continued whistling to himself.

* * *

"What happened? We thought your elevator stopped." Ikkaku rubbed his bald head in confusion as the door opened and the five stepped out into the crowded hallway.

"I pressed the buttons!" Yachiru smiled widely and jumped on Kenpachi's back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well that explains it."

"Get in your rooms. It's going be a fun day tomorrow." The crowd of men entered their rooms gracefully as well as Kenpachi and Yachiru, leaving the three stooges outside. Yoruichi eyed the cameras that lined the hallway and yawned opening her door followed by Kukaku.

"Ya know after this there's no turnin' back."

"There was no turning back the day they took her, Kukaku."

"What happens if yer mom… ya know?"

"If Soi's dead then I won't stop until my mother is as well, you should know this."

"How far are ya willin' to go for this girl that ya'd kill yer mom?"

"To hell and back."

"Well ya might just get yer chance. Just don't go crazy when we get there ok?"

"Yo! Look, our rooms are connected." Urahara smiled underneath his green hat from the door in their room leading to his. "Now we can have a slumber party! And I can just walk in here like this."

"Kisuke, grab your computer."

"Why do ya need it?" Yoruichi pulled a gun out of her bag and placed it in the waist of her pants.

"Hack into the hotel's IP and see if you can gain access to their cameras. I want you to gain control over the one out front, the one in the lobby, all 4 elevators, and the one down our hallway. Then you're gonna sit here and watch them."

"Aww, Yoruichi how come I never get to hold a gun?" She went into her bag and got out another gun, and held it out for him to take. He looked at it and turned around getting his computer.

"That's what I thought." Kisuke came back and sat in the attractive chair that decorated their room near the window and got to work. Kukaku stretched out on one of the beds and flipped through the TV, finally stopping at a news station where apparently another woman had gone missing in connection with a string of others suspected to be the work of a serial rapist, nothing interesting.

"Ok, I'm in, and there's even a camera in this room."

"Good," Yoruichi walked over looking at the screen that displayed 7 different camera shots. Kukaku jumped off the bed and asked where the one in their room was; later destroying the thing, claiming that it was an invasion of personal privacy, 'perverts'. "Watch the camera out front and tell me if any large vehicles stop outside, or drive around the corner. Kukaku tell me where this place is and how you plan on getting all of us inside undetected." Said woman turned around and dug through her bag finally pulling out a map that showed the building that held Soi inside. It was dissected into five floors, a general map of any large office building.

"Well we've done this before, so I'm sure you get the general idea. Soi is located on the third floor, the bottom floor should be heavily guarded, which is where your friend's are going to bust the door in-"

"Yoruichi, we have movement outside." Both women looked at him, and he turned the computer towards them. "See this white van? It just pulled up. Another one rounded the corner a few seconds earlier." A man stepped out of the van out front, going into the back and pulling out a medium sized brown package.

"Set camera views to the lobby, behind the hotel, and the hallway." They watched the lobby camera as the man in a black suit talked to the check out manager, finally turning towards the elevator. "Camera view to elevator." He pressed floor number 12 and watched the number display on the top rise as the machine headed towards them. "Kukaku, go outside and hide behind the nearest object, conceal yourself so that you are behind our room in the opposite direction of the elevator, and take a gun." She got up and left. "Urahara, go into your room and hide in the closet until I come get you alright?"

"I don't want to hide in the closet."

"Do it, or I'll kill you myself."

"Did I mention how much I love small claustrophobic closets?" He shut his computer and left, closing the door to his room behind him. Yoruichi walked over to entrance of her room and waited, finally there was a knock. She latched the metal chain to her door, locking it and opened it a crack, just enough for the chain to reach its end and she peered out at the man. "How can I help you?"

"Mrs. Shihouin?"

"Yes."

"I have a delivery for you, can you please open the door."

"How did you find me?" His eyebrows dropped into a fierce expression and he kicked the door open, pulling his hand out of the box along with a handgun. Yoruichi reached for hers and pointed it at him, but his leg caught the weapon and kicked it out of her grasp, across the room. He lifted the gun, and she jumped backwards behind the bed, crouching. The man cautiously walked over, throwing his hat on the floor and Kukaku stepped into the doorway, aiming. Unluckily, he noticed her too late and she shot him in the head, his body collapsing on the carpet. Yoruichi got up and let out a deep breath. "Think you could have waited any longer?"

"I got 'im didn't I? Besides, where's your gun?" She frowned and went over, picking it up; then headed into the other room retrieving Urahara and his computer. She led him back into her room and he squeaked at the sight of the bloodied body, whose face was no longer recognizable.

"You could have cleaned up before you got me."

"Where's the fun in that? Stay here; keep your eye on the hallway." She pushed him back into the chair and motioned for Kukaku to follow her. With her back on the doorframe, she jumped out; gun pointed down the empty hallway and carefully walked over to Zaraki's room.

* * *

"Kenny, I'm bored." He grunted in response, trying to fall asleep. "Kenny." He ignored her. "Kenny!"

"What is it?"

"There's someone on the balcony." He opened his eyes and got up.

"Under the bed."

"Ok." Zaraki moved over to the sliding glass door, hiding behind the wall, and looked to see if Yachiru was noticeable. The door silently slide open and a dark figure stepped inside, not seeing anyone.

"Sorry, but I didn't order any room service." Kenpachi brought his hand out connecting with the man's chest and launching him into the wall where he slid down unconscious. "Yachiru, get the rope." After they tied the man up, there was a knock at the door. Zaraki picked the unconscious man up and moved across the room looking through the peep hole. The door opened and Yoruichi looked up at the bound man over the taller one's shoulder. "Well look here Yachiru, we have more guests."

"I see you've run into one as well, how about your other men?" Zaraki left the room and kicked the nearest door open. Inside they found a similar seen in which two of his men were sitting on another dark figure.

"You two, go spread out and see who's left." He kicked over the man on the floor noticing stab wounds to his chest and a pool of blood around the body. "Yoruichi, looks like we can't wait much longer to attack, if you have a plan, we better hear it." After all the commotion, seven more men turned up dead including two of Zaraki's own. The remaining group filled into Kukaku and Yoruichi's room, Zaraki setting the unconscious man against the wall. Before Ikkaku entered, he stood up a corpse in front of the door, positioning him to look like a guard, but it tumbled to the ground and he flinched, looking left and right then closed the door behind him. Yoruichi looked over the crowd of men and sighed. "Then it looks like we have no choice." Kukaku rested the blue prints on one of the beds and they all gathered around. A black cat pounced off the floor and jumped at Zaraki's hair, landing on his shoulder and playing with the bells. Yachiru squealed and grabbed the cat, hugging it to the point of suffocation.

"Kukaku, what the hell, why'd you bring that damn cat?"

"Well I couldn't leave it at home, and I didn't have time to find a damn sitter!"

"It's a cat."

"Your point?"

"Argh, just get back to the plans." Kukaku grumbled and looked back down pointing to the first floor.

"Zaraki, ya and yer men will enter through the back door on ground level. It will be heavily guarded, so some of ya may be seriously wounded. Once inside, get rid of everyone, and use the stairs, and go to the second floor where there will be less people, but they will be more highly skilled. If ya make it past them, on the third floor there will be a hallway. At the end of the hallway the right room will contain Soi. Once inside, get her and bring her to the roof. If we don't meet ya along yer way to the roof, or if ya find us unable to continue, go to the airport and bring her back to the U.S. then watch over her for a while. If no one is in that room when ya get there, head to the roof anyway. In which case we already have her; then we will head to the airport immediately."

"When are we going?" Kukaku turned to Yoruichi with a serious expression on her face.

"Tomorrow night."

* * *

Dramatic music man, pretty wild. I tried to make this chapter a little interesting because it's really not that much fun, just a bunch of guys dying and them making plans to rescue Soi.

This is for the lovely xinglongneo who convinced me to put up another chapter.

12


	13. The Organ Plays a Solemn Note

AN: This is not the last chapter, the next one, obviously being the end, and maybe one after that a brief epilogue and prologue to my next story. It all depends on how much support I get for this one, seeing as I'm not all that popular in the community I wanted to start off small. Plus I enjoy getting email alerts of reviews :3

Wewt, long chapter ftw! I tried to squeeze this in for Soi's birthday on the 11th but I finished an hour too late lol. Oh well, happy birthday anyway.

* * *

Chapter 13, The Organ Plays a Solemn Note

There were many nights Yoruichi had stayed awake upright in her bed, hands crossed tightly over her folded knees. Many nights, where she had stared blankly at the wall in front of her, fear grabbing at her chest, constricting the flow of oxygen to her blood cells. The dark wasn't her problem, it was the shadows lurking in the quiet corners that the naked eye could not distinguish which scared her most of all. Being the victim of physical abuse as a child she had learned that no place was safe and in order to protect herself she could not leave her back open, not even while she slept. Of course she secretly wished her lack of energy would take over and force her mind into unconsciousness where she could sleep without fear of being harmed. Only tonight, it was not fear that gripped her, it was anxiety, restlessness and unease, for tomorrow night, if she could wait long enough, Soi would either be with her, or Soi and her, would be dead.

In reality, not much of it made sense, the assassination had failed on her mothers part, and since it was quite obvious that the Shihouin's only daughter would risk her life for Soi- what was the point in Soi remaining alive? Perhaps there was still hope that Yoruichi would submit to defeat and go quietly, or at least the girl had prayed it so.

The only problem, the woman came to conclude, was that tomorrow would be an amazing time to wait. The adrenaline had already ravaged her muscles raw in the anticipation of sunrise, and in the morning she would be too tired to fire her weapon properly. This thinking all lead to one rash conclusion: Yoruichi would sneak out and rescue Soi tonight.

Gently getting out of bed, she stealthily made her way to her backpack, zipped it up and slid it on, noticing the slight weight difference which she determined to be the result of such a long day. Grabbing her gun with attached silencer, and noting that she had packed up her weapons the previous few hours, she made her way to the door, looking back at Kukaku, whose limp state had revealed her dream induced slumber. "You going to be pissed when you realize I'm gone." It was a whisper, slightly audible among the opening and final click of the hotel door.

* * *

There was always something about the gentle purring of a car that relaxed Yoruichi while she drove. It was one of the main reasons her vehicle at home had more than a hundred thousand miles on it, a lot considering she bought it only a few years ago. The bright street lights shrouded the area in a blinding shade of yellow, reminding her to stay alert, despite the fact that no cars were out on the road this late at night. Hands suffocating the steering wheel she sat in silence, refusing to turn the radio on afraid it would rile her up.

The car came to a stop about a block away from the warehouse. A long slender figure stepped out throwing on her bag and crept across the street, watching out for approaching figures, or glints of metal. Bushes did well to hide her shadow, and eventually she made it around to the side of the building. Considering it was night time one would think less guards would be on duty, but it is more likely for an enemy to plan an attack at night, therefore she noticed as she leaped to the first rung in the fire escape, that men were standing out front, almost asleep. If only the damn metal didn't creak so much under her weight, it was making Yoruichi uneasy that someone would suspect her.

The blinds at the first platform were drawn back, and the inside of the building was clearly visible, she had to time her sprint carefully or someone inside would notice a mysterious leg dangling in the air. Upon reaching the top, she inhaled a deep breath, shaking off the feeling of regret. Second guessing herself now could mean a lot of pain, and a lot of problems. The knob on the roof linking the inside with the outside of the building was locked, but there was no way in hell she was going through the front door. "It's never that easy." Her foot drew up to her stomach and she let out a powerful kick into the side of the door near the lock. The sound vibrated through her muscles, and she kicked again, finally it flew open with a loud crash, and she ran around the small rectangular architecture, leaping on top, and crouching down over the ledge, gun ready.

"Hey, you hear that?"

"Huh?" Both men had their backs to a wall, leaning. One was barely awake, the other had been reflecting on how the hell he'd ended up as a henchman. "Whatcha wake me up for?"

"There's somethin on the roof, go check it out."

"Why I always gotta do it, you never get off your ass."

"Yeah wells I never gotta, you always do it for me."

"Bastard, do it yourself."

"Hey." The shorter guy stood up real tall as to get closer to the face of his companion.

"You get the nerve to stand up to me and you can sit back on your ass. Until then you get the hell up there and tell me what made that sound." The taller man reflected on this a second and opened his mouth to talk, but apparently nothing made contact and he turned around lurching up the small staircase to the roof.

"Dumb jerk, always makin' me do all the work. One day I'm really gonna let him have it, I'll knock him right between the eyes, we'll see who's afraid of who then." He stopped at the doorway and looked out on to the roof. "Just as I thought, there ain't nothin' here." He turned back around to head inside, but a pair of legs caught him under the shoulder blades and propelled him into the wall parallel to the entrance. The loud thud alerted the smaller thug who turned quickly to the stairs, holding his gun ready.

"Hey, you fall down the stairs again dumb ass?" He reached the top and noticed the man unconscious, face plastered against the wall in front of him. "Hey." He poked his friend with the tip of his gun. "Wake up stupid." A sharp pop bounced off the small corridor as a small piece of metal lodged itself in the smaller mans skull. He sunk to the floor, blood splashing against the side as Yoruichi stepped over the two, her gun pointed at the foot of the stairs, and she silently tiptoed down.

* * *

Kukaku sat up in bed, rubbing the sand out of her eyes, she stretched and swung her feet over the edge, finally getting up and limping to the bathroom. After washing her hands, she checked the time on her watch, and growled. "Damn it Yoruichi, you were supposed to wake me up thirty minutes ago, it's my shift-" She glanced over at the bed next to her and noticed it was already made, and empty. "You crazy bitch…" She ran out of the room pounding on every door like a mad woman.

* * *

Other than those two guys, the 5th floor was completely empty, which to a woman who was ankle deep in hope, was not a pretty sign. Fortunately she wouldn't allow herself to be completely overwhelmed with fear. Reaching in her jacket pocket, she pulled out Kukaku's tracker and stood with her back at the wall, glancing down the hallway as she determined which room Soi was in. At the far side of the building, 3rd floor, just like the blueprints had said. If she ever made it out alive, she would have to recognize her friend wasn't as dumb as she acted.

The stairwell door creaked slightly while she pushed it open just enough to peek inside, then shouted down in the deepest voice she could, trying to imitate the shorter man she had heard in the hallway. "Hey, get your ass up here." After 15 seconds of no response, she entered all the way and looked down. Where the hell was everyone? 4th floor, empty. Yoruichi screamed out in frustration and turned around, back down the stairs. 3rd floor, empty. She sprinted down the hall, kicking the last door in, and stopped. There inside a body, bound by coffee colored rope, head once tilted downwards rose up to meet her eyes -silver pools, the ones she chased after in her sleep. "S-Soi?" Unable the talk the figure forcefully threw her head side to side, thrashing about. Yoruichi ran forward and hugged the girl, then backed up and brushed the raven hair out of her face, yanking off the cloth that bound her mouth shut.

"Turn around!" Blackness.

* * *

"Deary, wake up now. If you sleep much longer you'll ruin the fun." Hazy vision blurred her sight, finally the yellow irises focused on its mothers figure. Nonsense rambled its way out of Yoruichi's mouth as she struggled to remember.

"Soi!" Her head turned quickly to the right, a wave of calm surged through her now. "Soi, I'm so sorry."

"Yoruichi, how nice of you to join us. Why, Soi and I were growing rather bored here all by ourselves. She's not much of a talker you could say." The free woman stepped casually to the shorter girl and rested her hand on Soi's jaw and stroked it. Yoruichi made to get up but realized she too was bound in ropes.

"Don't touch her." The gold in her eyes turned a dark orange as rage seeped through the pupil.

"Now hold on a second, I'm not going to hurt her… yet, anyway. We still have our arrangement do we not?"

"Fuck you, the deal's off."

"Oh is it now?" Yoruichi's mother reached into her belt and pulled out a short steel blade, turning it in the light. "Such a pretty face this girl has, I understand why you're attracted to her." She held the blade up to Soi's cheek, the girl under her struggled to tilt her head backwards avoiding the object until a hand held her throat. The knife seeped slowly into her skin; muffled cries of pain rang out, as it was brought across and down her jaw, crimson dripping off her chin. The woman next to her could no longer control herself and pulled with everything she had against the ropes that bound her. Two men stepped out of the darkness, but a hand held them at bay. "It's alright, she's not going anywhere."

Turning her attention to Yoruichi, the mother drifted back, pointing the knife at her neck. "I suppose you're wondering why I have only a few guards up here, but honestly it's not that hard to guess is it? You've always done things on your own, it's in your nature, I never expected you to come with that sorry excuse for a gang you have. I suppose eventually they'll have noticed you were gone, in which case I've stationed the majority of men on the first and second floor. I doubt anyone will make it this far anyway." She smiled slyly and grabbed her daughter by the chin. "It's a shame you turned into a faggot, you really would have had attractive children."

"Shut up. All my life I've obeyed you and done everything you asked. You abused me and never treated me with respect. Is it any wonder I grew up to be so rebellious? Why I got in so many damn fights. Maybe if you hadn't been such a sorry excuse for a mother, things might have gone your way. But unfortunately I'd rather die than listen to another fucking thing you spew from that garbage you call a mouth." She lunged forward in her chair, the knife at her neck slicing through the ropes around her arms and she untangled herself, jumping forward and tackling the other women. Soi's eye lit up and she watched the brawl on the floor as the two men on either side stepped forward, taking aim. Yoruichi rolled over, pinning herself to the bottom to avoid the gunfire, and launched the figure on her at one of the men, rolling back on her palms, and springing up from the ground to sweep the feet out from under the other. His gun dropped to the floor and she picked it up, shooting him in the head and lifting his body as a shield. "How does it feel to be on the loosing team?"

"You tell me." Dark fingers motioned forward and the man behind her stepped up, pointing a gun to Soi's head.

"Ok, stop, I give up." Yoruichi aimed the gun at Soi. "If anyone does it… it has to be me."

"Yoruichi what are you doing?"

"You're stuck now aren't you mom? If I kill Soi you have no other bargaining chips left. It's all over."

"You wouldn't dare." Yoruichi fired and the bullet just nicked the side of Soi's chair. The frightened girl looked up in disbelief, the cloth that had been removed earlier had been retied, and her eye's searched Yoruichi's, but the yellow orbs just stared, half dull and full of regret.

"You're right... I can't do it." She set the gun on the floor and backed away from it.

"Move." The man turned around and gave the older Shihouin his weapon and stepped forward cautiously, eyes switching back and fourth between the metal on the floor and the woman across the room. He leaned forward grabbing it and Yoruichi ran at him, sliding under his legs, kicking the gun to the middle of the floor as her mother fired, piercing the flesh of her goon, and he dropped with a thud. More bullets were fired as the daughter rolled across the floor, jumping up and punching her mother in the face. They both ended up tangled in a brawl.

"Soi." Yoruichi yelled out to the sitting girl. "Get the gun." The shot fired earlier had sliced through the main rope on the chair releasing the smaller woman and she got up, grabbing the gun and aiming it at the two on the floor. "Shoot it."

"I can't you're in the way."

"Just shoot it!" The barrel of the gun exploded in a roar as the spiraling bullet penetrated through the back of Yoruichi's mom. The weapon hit the ground with a clatter as Soi sunk to her feet, breathing heavily.

"Yoruichi, I got her." Soi looked up to notice two figures were lying down, motionless across the tile. "Y-Yoruichi…" Her body started trembling, and she crawled over, kneeling at the bodies, picking the older woman up by the collar. The door to the room burst open and Kukaku entered, gun ready.

"Soi, what are you-"

"This isn't a game, Yoruichi… please… stop messing around." A dark hand came up and rested at Soi's jaw, wiping away the blood. Soi looked up into half lidded eyes, tears streaming down her cheek.

"You know, in Japan, some believe that when your body dies, your soul passes into a realm of spirits. This place is guarded by powerful warriors who vow to protect the people of this world and their own from dark beings."

"Why are you telling me this… you're not dying" A pale hand rested against Yoruichi's abs, and she felt the moisture, the flow of warm liquid.

"Don't kid anyone Soi. Hey look at me. You killed my mother; I'm extremely proud of you, don't let this remain on your conscience."

"No you can't… we… why?"

"Soi, on the other side. I'll look for you."

"No you won't because you're not going. You can't, you said you would take care of me! You're a liar."

"Please don't."

"Please don't what? I need you; I've always needed you… Yoruichi I think I-I might actually l-love you."

"Soi…"

"Then promise me."

"Promise you?"

"If you find me on the other side, promise you'll never leave me again."

"Soi, I-"

"Do it, please, Yoruichi…"

"I promise… little bee." A wave of fire collided with Soi's temple. Searing pain bled through every pore on her body, a life times worth of images flashed through her head, and then paused.

_

* * *

"Hey Soi, come here for a second." The young girl walked over to her friend out of curiosity._

"_Whatcha want, Yoruichi?" Little dark hands opened, releasing a small butterfly that drifted up and tickled Soi's nose. _

"_You know your name means bee right? In Japanese." _

"_Yeah, my father and mother were born in Japan, they moved here before I was born. Why do you ask?"_

"_I think it's cute." _

"_Don't tease me, Yoruichi." Soi pouted._

"_I'm not." The older girl leaned forward and kissed Soi on the forehead. "I like it, little bee." _

* * *

_13_


	14. Untitled

AN: This is the final chapter. Vote on my page if you want there to be a second story which would take place in the current Soul Society. Thanks goes out to those of you who have supported me all the way and read my story, especially the reviewers who helped keep it alive. And with that I'll end this.

* * *

Chapter 14, Untitled

If it were night, the lack of light would be comfortable. If it were night, the stars would be a pleasant piercing gaze. And if it were night, regrets would flow endlessly till the ground collected a heavy puddle and absorbed the world's problems. But it wasn't night at all. A thick fog surrounded the area delivering huge grey clouds threatening to burst apart and send sheets of tears to the earth, or more specifically the service being held. And it began, the sky cried, its emotion dripped through the fog like bullets splattering on the grass and the people gathered together.

A deep voice droned over the crowd as they stood; staring down into the soil, rain collecting on the mahogany box below. No one had smiled this morning, and it was safe to assume no one would, for such a ceremony prohibits it. A part in life one wishes to never attend, a part of existence and the deadline of a timeline drawing to a close.

"It was too early." Silver eyes traveled to the clouds, lips parting for air, it was all suddenly suffocating. The whisper was unheard, but shared by the others. Soi couldn't watch as the booming voice concluded, meaning the earth would suddenly swallow that body whole. A heavy palm found its way to her shoulder, and she suddenly knew who it was. The taller woman remained silent, knowing the girl could use the comfort.

The rain fell harder into a soaking mess, blades collecting each drop with pleasure seeing as they had been deprived for a few days. A good majority of people left after that, for the shovels were at work completing the job, and there was no use catching a cold if they could avoid it, but Soi remained. She promised herself earlier she wouldn't cry which at this point seemed impossible. At least the rain would disguise it.

"How's yer head?"

"Perfect."

"So yer memory's back?"

"Every single page, but the final chapter was never finished."

"It's not the end you know."

"There's no such thing as a book without an author."

"Then help write it." Kukaku turned around, and headed in the direction of the car. Upon opening the door a black figure jumped out and bound across the field at a quick pace, landing at Soi's feet and rubbing against her pants. She looked down at the small kitten and picked it up, gently scratching its ears while a single tear burned a trail down her cheek. The cat opened its eyes and watched the stone before them, mesmerized. Finally they too left, passing the other markers and trees that lined the path out of the cemetery. "She's right you know. The story's just beginning."

_Yoruichi Shihouin _

_1985-2008_


End file.
